Flood hazard: planning approach to risk mitigation

Abstract

Control of risks associated with floods in recent years has a central role in urban planning scientific research. This is related to the increased incidence of these phenomena whose the root cause was found in the greater frequency of extreme rainfall events as a result of climate change. In Italy the phenomenon became dramatic because of the numerous human casualties that occur each year. Without prejudice to the need for interventions that effectively act on climate change, there is a need to provide interventions to mitigate the consequences in the short-term. The Department of Urban Planning at Naples University has conducted a thorough research on the case, objectively verifying the impact that human activity has on the dramatic consequences of rainfall events, also highlighting the lack of efficiency of the traditional mitigation measures based on the construction of huge detention basins dug in the ground. This is due to three main reasons: such interventions require financial investments that local communities often do not have; the creation of detention basins cause the removal of large quantities of soil for agricultural use; the continuous increase in impervious surfaces due to urbanization implies the need to cope with the masses of water ever more impressive and therefore the dry ponds already created quickly become insufficient. The research proposes some interventions and best practices that, if adopted, can radically reduce the impact of extreme rainfall on public safety, enabling an efficient participation of private capital in investments through the use of leverage financial and fiscal incentives.

Recycling, waste management and urban vegetable gardens

“…At the same time the widening of urban green spaces, such as parks and gardens, is a considerable deterrent for the investment of the already scarce resources of Local Bodies towards high management and maintenance costs [33]. From here we proposed the idea according to which urban vegetable gardens and biogas production facilities, above all those implemented in CCHP systems (Combined Cooling, Heating and Power), could become new centres to be steadily proposed in order to meet the needs of green infrastructures inside urban areas [34].…”

Application Studies for the Implementation of the Sustainability Charter in the Metropolitan City of Genoa

“…Metropolitan cities are the most important urban areas in the world and are directly involved in achieving the goals of sustainable development, the global transition to a circular economy and the different goals set by the 2030 Agenda [44][45][46][47][48].…”