Urban Flood Resilience: A comprehensive review of assessment methods, tools, and techniques to manage disaster

Abstract

Academic interest in comprehending flood resilience concepts and their evaluation is growing with the increasing frequency and severity of disasters due to climate change (CC). This paper conducts a comprehensive and systematic literature review on urban flood resilience assessment (UFRA) to address the inadequacy of urban preparedness, response and lengthy recovery process. The review covers the UFRA process considering urban elements, methods, tools and techniques, and challenges in achieving resilience and provides guidance for constructing advance resilience assessment frameworks. Scopus and Web of Science databases were accessed by employing pertinent keywords. The review of UFRA literature reveals a prevalence of frameworks analysing isolated or clustered urban elements rather than a comprehensive framework for assessing flood resilience. Various methods, tools and techniques, such as multi-criteria decision-making methods (MCDM), hydrological modelling, household surveys, and geographic information system (GIS) techniques, are commonly employed in the flood resilience assessment of single or clustered elements. However, to achieve overall resilience in an urban area, there is a need for an integrated and comprehensive approach that accounts for the evolving risk landscape. Creating a comprehensive framework poses challenges due to the intricate nature of the urban system, which requires collaboration across multiple disciplines and integration of modern tools and techniques, including computational modelling such as agent-based modelling (ABM) and system dynamics approaches, artificial intelligence techniques, and cognitive fuzzy modelling. The outcome of this research serves as a valuable resource for researchers, academicians, and policymakers. It aids in understanding the urban flood resilience process, focusing on urban elements and their inter-relationships, assessment methods and approaches, dimensions and indicators necessary for achieving flood resilience scenarios comprehensively.