Adapting Urban Areas to Flooding

Key points in this POSTnote include:

• Extreme rainfall events are predicted to become more frequent and severe in the future as the climate changes.
• Existing urban defences and drainage infrastructure cannot cope with increasingly extreme events, but urban areas can be adapted to reduce vulnerabilities to flooding.
• There is no single solution to manage urban flood risks: a portfolio of solutions will be needed that include traditional flood defences but also flood resilience measures.
• Urban drainage systems that mimic a natural landscape can reduce surface flooding and provide other benefits.

Acknowledgements

POSTnotes are based on literature reviews and interviews with a range of stakeholders and are externally peer reviewed. POST would like to thank interviewees and peer reviewers for kindly giving up their time during the preparation of this briefing, including:

• Adam Cambridge, Atkins*
• Professor David Balmforth, MWH*
• Stephen Wielebski, HBF*
• Manuela Escarameia, HR Wallingford*
• Andy Tagg, HR Wallingford*
• Bridget Woods-Ballard, HR Wallingford*
• Hugh Ellis, Town and Country Planning Association
• Bob Vaughan, Natural Resources Wales*
• Paul Shaffer, CIRIA
• Professor Chris Kilsby, Newcastle University
• Professor Richard Dawson, Newcastle University*
• Professor Richard Ashley, University of Sheffield
• Professor Roger Falconer, Cardiff University
• Stacy Sharman, Defra*
• Kirsten Thorburn, SEPA
• Andrew J Eden, Environment Agency*
• Ruth M Allin, Environment Agency*
• Dr Stephen Garvin, BRE
• Laura Hughes, Association of British Insurers

*Denotes people who acted as external reviewers of the briefing.