Urban policies as a factor of vulnerability to flooding in Mediterranean urban areas: retrospective spatial analysis of the case study of the Region of Murcia

Abstract

The Region of Murcia, on the south-eastern Mediterranean coast of Spain, has suffered from flooding throughout history. These floods have for centuries been the natural disasters with the greatest socio-economic impact in the region. Despite this, the great increase of urban expansion during the last quarter of the 20th century, mainly on the coastline due to the sun and beach tourism boom, failed to take into account the disadvantages and challenges of building in flood-prone zones. When studying the current urban planning models of three municipalities, analyses using GIS indicators show that the urban flooding vulnerability level is too high.