Quality of Cities’ Networks of Plans and Prospects for Flood Resilience

Abstract

Urban flood resilience is a function of the collective intent of all planning efforts or network of plans. Yet, most studies focus on single plan types; it is unclear whether plans work cohesively. We asked to what extent do networks of plans uniformly foster resilience to flooding. We adapted plan quality evaluation methodology to evaluate four cities’ networks of plans. All four networks uniformly state goals, including flood resilience and sustainability goals, but exclude details on flood exposure and vulnerability. Moreover, all four networks lack implementation guidelines. We identify opportunities for more integrated planning to tackle flooding and climate change.