Innovations in Best Practices: Approaches to Managing Urban Areas and Reducing Flood Risk in Reggio Calabria (Italy)

Giuseppe Barbaro, Marcelo Gomes Miguez, Matheus Martins de Sousa, Anna Beatriz Ribeiro da Cruz Franco, Paula Morais Canedo de Magalhães, Giandomenico Foti, Matheus Rocha Valadão and Irene Occhiuto
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Giuseppe Barbaro: DICEAM Department, Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria, 89122 Reggio Calabria, Italy
Marcelo Gomes Miguez: Urban Engineering Pro-gram—PEU, COPPE and Polythecnic School, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-909, Brazil
Matheus Martins de Sousa: Environmental Engineering Program—PEA, Polythecnic School, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-909, Brazil
Anna Beatriz Ribeiro da Cruz Franco: Civil Engineering Program—PEC, COPPE, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-909, Brazil
Paula Morais Canedo de Magalhães: Civil Engineering Program—PEC, COPPE, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-909, Brazil
Giandomenico Foti: DICEAM Department, Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria, 89122 Reggio Calabria, Italy
Matheus Rocha Valadão: Civil Engineering Department, School of Civil Engineering, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-909, Brazil
Irene Occhiuto: DICEAM Department, Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria, 89122 Reggio Calabria, Italy

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 6, 1-22

Abstract: Urbanization increases imperviousness and reduces infiltration, retention, and evapotranspiration, frequently aggravating urban flooding due to greater runoff and higher and faster discharge peaks. Effective strategies to mitigate flood risks require a better understanding of the watershed dynamics and space to reverse the negative impacts. However, often cities do not have proper data sets to feed mathematical models that would be helpful in mapping water dynamics. Attempts to reduce flood risks have been made for decades by means of structural interventions but were frequently designed within the logic of a local scale, using limited available spaces and often merely shifting flooding downstream. Therefore, assessing urban floods requires a modeling approach capable of reflecting the watershed scale, considering interactions between hydraulic structures and urban landscape, where best practices and non-structural measures aim to improve community flood resilience through the reduction of social and financial costs in the long run. This paper proposes an integrated approach to analyze low impact development (LID) practices complemented by non-structural measures in a case study in southern Italy, supported by mathematical modeling in a strategy to overcome a context of almost no available data and limited urban open spaces.

Keywords: flood control design; flood risk; sustainability; flood mapping; mathematical modeling; urban stormwater planning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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