How do rural-urban linkages change after an extreme flood event? Empirical evidence from rural communities in Pakistan

A bibliometric and systematic review of the Methods for the Improvement of Vulnerability Assessment in Europe framework: A guide for the development of further multi-hazard holistic framework

Conceptual frameworks are vital for identifying relevant components, dimensions and indicators to assess vulnerability to natural hazards and climatic change. Given the fact that vulnerability is applied and used in various disciplines and by multiple schools of thought, several conceptual frameworks to assess and conceptualise vulnerability have been developed. Even though these frameworks have been widely cited in research, the range and context of application and contextual use of such frameworks have rarely been explored. This paper provides a systematic review of the MOVE (Methods for the Improvement of Vulnerability Assessment in Europe) framework. Bibliometric and systematic analyses were performed to better understand who and how the MOVE framework has been taken up by other researchers. The MOVE framework has been widely cited in different research fields. Several studies directly used the framework for assessing vulnerability both in terms of its factors and the different thematic dimensions of vulnerability (e.g. social, physical, ecological). Some studies have used it as a basis for developing context-specific studies of vulnerability and risk assessment frameworks. Finally, we also discuss critiques of the MOVE framework that can provide direction for future vulnerability assessments.

Contribution

Critique of the MOVE framework can be helpful in further improvement and development of a multi-hazard holistic framework that would be flexible enough to support multiple theoretical perspectives in disaster risk and climate change discourses.

Analyzing the impacts of topographic factors and land cover characteristics on waterlogging events in urban functional zones

Rapid urbanization and climate changes result in frequent occurrence of urban waterlogging disasters, which cause serious economic damage and pose a threat to residents' safety. Understanding the spatial characteristic and the key influencing factors of urban waterlogging has significant implications for mitigating waterlogging. In this study, the officially issued representative waterlogging points were obtained, as well as the topographic factors and land cover characteristics were selected to compare their impacts on the waterlogging event density in a highly urbanized area at urban functional zone (UFZ) scale, and to quantify the contributions of the key influencing factors on urban waterlogging events. Results showed the average density of urban waterlogging events in the study area is 9.2 points/km2, and 38.4 % of the waterlogging events are distributed in REZ. The distribution of waterlogging points in the study area revealed a significant multi-core and multilevel spatial aggregation pattern, and 12.1 % of the study area was high-density waterlogging area. In the total UFZs, the correlation coefficients of topographic indices with waterlogging density were relatively weaker than the other land cover characteristic metrics. The impervious surface ratio had significant contributions in all UFZ types. The larger ratio of impervious surface significantly increased the density of waterlogging events. The increase in the ratio of green space can effectively decrease the density of urban waterlogging. In the total UFZs, the top 3 key influencing factors of urban waterlogging were PR (35.9 %), COHESION (32.5 %) and DIVISION (11.8 %). The higher connectivity of landscape patches in REZ, INZ and COZ, as well as the increase of landscape dispersion or diversity in REZ, EGZ, INZ and GSZ can effectively reduce the occurrence of urban waterlogging. This study provides a better understanding of the formation mechanism of urban waterlogging disasters and potential implications for prioritized waterlogging mitigation strategies.

Spatial dependence of floods shaped by extreme rainfall under the influence of urbanization

Weather system are spatially and temporally dependent, and these dependencies can result in flood events with similar behaviors. While it is well known that urbanization profoundly impacts the flood generation process, much less is known about the impacts of urbanization on the spatial dependence of floods, a major determinant of flood risk severity. To this end, a scheme was proposed to detect the flood dependence variations influenced by urbanization. Based on the scheme, we found that 1) the flood dependence can be weakened with extreme rainfall increasing from a short return period to a long return period; 2) The flood dependencies can be amplified in slightly urbanized regions and mitigated in highly urbanized regions due to intensifying urbanization. In addition, the change characteristics of the flood dependencies influenced by urbanization are first identified from the perspective of network structure. We found that urbanization can significantly affect the network structure (i.e., hub and connectivity) of flood dependence, especially in highly urbanized regions. The catchments with high hub and connectivity are prone to widespread floods and should be given more attention in flood warning and control management work, which can contribute to helping defend against floods in hazard-prone areas.

Flood risk perception and communication: The role of hazard proximity

Climate change-induced extreme events have increased worldwide, including riverine flooding in rural areas. Risk communication is an effective mechanism that affects risk perception and can significantly reduce flood risk. This study quantifies risk perception and communication in flood-prone rural areas of District Dera Ghazi Khan, Pakistan. The rural communities were divided into two zones based on the distance from rivers, i.e., Zone 1 (households within 0-3 km) and Zone 2 (households within 3-6 km). After a thorough literature review, indicators measured on the Likert scale were selected for risk perception and communication. Using Yamane's sampling, 420 samples were collected using a household survey. Chi-square and t-tests were used to identify differences between the two zones. Linear regression was performed to identify the socioeconomic determinants of risk communication and perception. Results showed that the people living away from the river had higher risk perception and received better risk communication than their peers. The main reason was attributed to their past flood experiences. The study also found a strong correlation between flood risk perception and risk communication. Hazard proximity was also found to affect risk perception and communication. People with higher risk perception are likely to seek risk communication information and engage in flood preparedness and mitigation measures. This study provides an insight into the need for risk communication for improving the effectiveness of flood risk reduction.

A Geomorphic Approach for Identifying Flash Flood Potential Areas in the East Rapti River Basin of Nepal

Basin geomorphology is a complete system of landforms and topographic features that play a crucial role in the basin-scale flood risk evaluation. Nepal is a country characterized by several rivers and under the influence of frequent floods. Therefore, identifying flood risk areas is of paramount importance. The East Rapti River, a tributary of the Ganga River, is one of the flood-affected basins, where two major cities are located, making it crucial to assess and mitigate flood risk in this river basin. A morphometric calculation was made based on the Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) 30-m Digital Elevation Model (DEM) in the Geographic Information System (GIS) environment. The watershed, covering 3037.29 km2 of the area has 14 sub-basins (named as basin A up to N), where twenty morphometric parameters were used to identify flash flood potential sub-basins. The resulting flash flood potential maps were categorized into five classes ranging from very low to very high-risk. The result shows that the drainage density, topographic relief, and rainfall intensity have mainly contributed to flash floods in the study area. Hence, flood risk was analyzed pixel-wise based on slope, drainage density, and precipitation. Existing landcover types extracted from the potential risk area indicated that flash flood is more frequent along the major Tribhuvan Rajpath highway. The landcover data shows that human activities are highly concentrated along the west (Eastern part of Bharatpur) and the east (Hetauda) sections. The study concludes that the high human concentrated sub-basin “B” has been categorized as a high flood risk sub-basin; hence, a flood-resilient city planning should be prioritized in the basin.

Policy Strategies to Revive Rural Land in Peri-Metropolitan Towns: Resource Identification, Capitalization, and Financialization

Previous planning for rural revival in towns has emphasized construction and government-led policies. However, we argue that the dilemmas of peri-metropolitan rural areas, such as Desakota in China, are far more complex faced with rural super village and hollowed village transformations. Rural revival planning needs to coordinate with the development of urbanized and rural areas towards multifunctional goals and plans as a whole. Therefore, we selected the town master plan of Lijia, a typical peri-metropolitan village in China, as a case study. Through a historical–interpretative approach involving analysis of planning policies, questionnaires, and in-depth interviews with the key stakeholders involved, we structured the process and mechanism of rural revival in Lijia into three phases: resource identification, capitalization, and financialization. In different phases, different stakeholders adopt different roles. The government takes a leading role in resource identification and capitalization, while firms take a leading role in the process of financialization. “Market-dominant and government-guided” planning stimulates villagers to participate in rural revival. We highlight the importance of multifunctional land-use in terms of rural revival in the master planning of peri-metropolitan villages and provide a practical reference for uniting multiple stakeholders, including governments, firms, and villagers.