A Risk Based Approach to Evaluating the Impacts of Zayanderood Drought on Sustainable Development Indicators of Riverside Urban in Isfahan-Iran

Hadi Sarvari, Mansooreh Rakhshanifar, Jolanta Tamošaitienė, Daniel W.M. Chan and Michael Beer
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Hadi Sarvari: Department of Civil Engineering, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan 81595-39998, Iran
Mansooreh Rakhshanifar: Faculty of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor, Skudai 81310, Malaysia
Jolanta Tamošaitienė: Faculty of Civil Engineering, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Sauletekio al. 11, LT-10223 Vilnius, Lithuania
Daniel W.M. Chan: Department of Building and Real Estate, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
Michael Beer: Institute for Risk and Reliability, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Callinstrasse 34, 30167 Hannover, Germany

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 23, 1-20

Abstract: In recent years, the Zayanderood River in Isfahan-Iran has been encountered by hydrological imbalance and drought. Literature review shows that long-term climate change, drought, and disruption of the river’s water supply has led to depletion of underground aquifers and, consequently, gradual subsidence of the river and serious damage to old buildings and structures along the riverbank. This fact would be followed up by adverse environmental, social, and economic effect that could threaten the sustainable development of urban space. Therefore, it is necessary to use efficient risk identification and assessment approaches toward a more effective risk management. The goal of this study is to identify and prioritize the risks of river drought with regards to all three sustainable development areas including environmental, social, and economic. The research methodology was a mixed field method that included a set of questionnaires and interviews. To evaluate collected data, the analytic network process (ANP) method was used. Eighteen important risks were identified. Based on the results, decrease in the groundwater level, climate change, and gradual soil degradation were ranked first, second, and third, respectively. As this study examined the impacts of river drought on all three areas of sustainable development simultaneously and comprehensively, it is expected that the results will fill the existing theoretical and practical gap affecting improvements in assessment and management of sustainable development risks.

Keywords: Drought; Sustainable development; Urban space; Risk assessment; Isfahan; Iran (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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