Rapid Urban Growth in Flood Zones : Global Evidence since 1985
As countries rapidly urbanize, settlements are expanding into hazardous flood zones. This study provides a global analysis of spatial urbanization patterns and the evolution of flood exposure between 1985 and 2015. Using high-resolution annual data...
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2022
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099546404212214703/IDU0ef8bc63a022b304b7c08e7c04aac815d4d98 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37348 |
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okr-10986-373482022-07-05T20:03:02Z Rapid Urban Growth in Flood Zones : Global Evidence since 1985 Rentschler, Jun Avner, Paolo Marconcini, Mattia Su, Rui Strano, Emanuele Hallegatte, Stephane Bernard, Louise Riom, Capucine HAZARDOUS FLOOD ZONES URBAN FLOOD ZONE HUMAN SETTLEMENTS HIGH-RISK FLOOD ZONES RISKY GROWTH CLIMATIC HAZARD CLIMATE CHANGE CLIMATE RISK FLOOD RISK URBANIZATION ADAPTATION CLIMATE CHANGE EXPOSURE As countries rapidly urbanize, settlements are expanding into hazardous flood zones. This study provides a global analysis of spatial urbanization patterns and the evolution of flood exposure between 1985 and 2015. Using high-resolution annual data, it shows that settlements across the world grew by 85 percent to over 1.28 million square kilometers. In the same period, settlements exposed to the highest flood hazard level increased by 122 percent. In many regions, risky growth is outpacing safe growth, particularly in East Asia, where high-risk settlements have expanded 60 percent faster than safe ones. Developing countries are driving the recent growth of flood exposure: 36,500 square kilometers of settlements were built in the world’s highest-risk zones since 1985–82 percent of which are in low- and middle-income countries. In comparison, recent growth in high-income countries has been relatively slow and safe. These results document a divergence in countries’ exposure to flood hazards. Rather than adapting their exposure to climatic hazards, many countries are actively increasing their exposure. 2022-04-27T19:15:04Z 2022-04-27T19:15:04Z 2022-04 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099546404212214703/IDU0ef8bc63a022b304b7c08e7c04aac815d4d98 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37348 English Policy Research Working Paper;10014 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Policy Research Working Paper Publications & Research |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
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World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English |
| topic |
HAZARDOUS FLOOD ZONES URBAN FLOOD ZONE HUMAN SETTLEMENTS HIGH-RISK FLOOD ZONES RISKY GROWTH CLIMATIC HAZARD CLIMATE CHANGE CLIMATE RISK FLOOD RISK URBANIZATION ADAPTATION CLIMATE CHANGE EXPOSURE |
| spellingShingle |
HAZARDOUS FLOOD ZONES URBAN FLOOD ZONE HUMAN SETTLEMENTS HIGH-RISK FLOOD ZONES RISKY GROWTH CLIMATIC HAZARD CLIMATE CHANGE CLIMATE RISK FLOOD RISK URBANIZATION ADAPTATION CLIMATE CHANGE EXPOSURE Rentschler, Jun Avner, Paolo Marconcini, Mattia Su, Rui Strano, Emanuele Hallegatte, Stephane Bernard, Louise Riom, Capucine Rapid Urban Growth in Flood Zones : Global Evidence since 1985 |
| relation |
Policy Research Working Paper;10014 |
| description |
As countries rapidly urbanize,
settlements are expanding into hazardous flood zones. This
study provides a global analysis of spatial urbanization
patterns and the evolution of flood exposure between 1985
and 2015. Using high-resolution annual data, it shows that
settlements across the world grew by 85 percent to over 1.28
million square kilometers. In the same period, settlements
exposed to the highest flood hazard level increased by 122
percent. In many regions, risky growth is outpacing safe
growth, particularly in East Asia, where high-risk
settlements have expanded 60 percent faster than safe ones.
Developing countries are driving the recent growth of flood
exposure: 36,500 square kilometers of settlements were built
in the world’s highest-risk zones since 1985–82 percent of
which are in low- and middle-income countries. In
comparison, recent growth in high-income countries has been
relatively slow and safe. These results document a
divergence in countries’ exposure to flood hazards. Rather
than adapting their exposure to climatic hazards, many
countries are actively increasing their exposure. |
| format |
Working Paper |
| author |
Rentschler, Jun Avner, Paolo Marconcini, Mattia Su, Rui Strano, Emanuele Hallegatte, Stephane Bernard, Louise Riom, Capucine |
| author_facet |
Rentschler, Jun Avner, Paolo Marconcini, Mattia Su, Rui Strano, Emanuele Hallegatte, Stephane Bernard, Louise Riom, Capucine |
| author_sort |
Rentschler, Jun |
| title |
Rapid Urban Growth in Flood Zones : Global Evidence since 1985 |
| title_short |
Rapid Urban Growth in Flood Zones : Global Evidence since 1985 |
| title_full |
Rapid Urban Growth in Flood Zones : Global Evidence since 1985 |
| title_fullStr |
Rapid Urban Growth in Flood Zones : Global Evidence since 1985 |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Rapid Urban Growth in Flood Zones : Global Evidence since 1985 |
| title_sort |
rapid urban growth in flood zones : global evidence since 1985 |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2022 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099546404212214703/IDU0ef8bc63a022b304b7c08e7c04aac815d4d98 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37348 |
| _version_ |
1764486993244323840 |