Flood Risk Mitigation in a Mediterranean Urban Area: The Case Study of Rossano Scalo (CS – Calabria, Italy)

Piro, Patrizia; Maiolo, Mario; Talarico, Valerio; Falco, Salvatore Di; Nigro, G.; Pezzagno, Michèle; Pavesi, Filippo Carlo; Berteni, Francesca; Grossi, Giovanna

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-99867-1_57

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 6 publications

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“…Urbanization, to which population growth is associated, increases the rate of impervious surfaces, thus increasing urban runoff and flood risk [1]. Climate change increases the frequency and the magnitude of rainfall and consequently that of surface runoff, often exceeding the limited design capacity of the existing infrastructure [2]. These combined impacts have been shown to lead to more frequent and devasting flooding events, compromising the resilience of urban drainage systems [3][4][5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water Sensitive Cities: An Integrated Approach to Enhance Urban Flood Resilience in Parma (Northern Italy)

Dada

Urich

Berteni

et al. 2021

Climate

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Climate change is globally causing more intense meteorological phenomena. Our cities experience increased rainfall intensity, more intense heat waves, and prolonged droughts providing economic, social, health and environmental challenges. Combined with population growth and rapid urbanization, the increasing impact of climate change will make our cities more and more vulnerable, especially to urban flooding. In order to adapt our urban water systems to these challenges, the adoption of newly emerging water management strategies is required. The complexity and scale of this challenge calls for the integration of knowledge from different disciplines and collaborative approaches. The water sensitive cities principles provide guidance for developing new techniques, strategies, policies, and tools to improve the livability, sustainability, and resilience of cities. In this study, the DAnCE4Water modeling approach promoting the development of water sensitive cities was applied to Parma, an Italian town that has faced serious water issues in the last few years. The city, indeed, had to face the consequences of flooding several times, caused by the inadequacy of both the network of open channels and the sewerage network due to the urban expansion and climate change of the last 30 years. Through the model, the efficiency of decentralized technologies, such as green roofs and porous pavement, and their integration with the existing centralized combined sewer system was assessed under a range of urban development scenarios. The obtained results show that the adoption of an integrated approach, including soft engineering hydraulic strategies, consisting in the use of natural and sustainable solutions, can increase resilience to urban flooding. Further, the study shows that there is a critical need for strategic investment in solutions that will deliver long-term sustainable outcomes.

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