Integrating Flood Risk Management and Spatial Planning: Legislation, Policy, and Development Practice
Publication: Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Volume 143, Issue 3
Abstract
Flooding is expected to become more common and more severe as climate change progresses. Past and ongoing research suggests that a better integration between spatial planning as a nonstructural measure and flood risk management is one way to deal with the problems related to flooding. In order to better understand the potential of such integration, the case of the River Dodder catchment in Ireland is used to examine the extent to which flood objectives are integrated with spatial plans and whether the actual development reflects the attempts to plan and manage potential flooding. The study reveals that recent legislation formally supports the integration of spatial planning and flood risk management. In turn, such legal requirements are reflected in spatial plans that demonstrate increasing attention to flood risk. However, the greater consideration of flooding in policy terms did not always coincide with flooding-conscious development. Initial evidence seen in this case shows that the actual development may occur against preservation policies that are prescribed in the plans and may lack a comprehensive consideration of flood risks. It is therefore concluded that the link between legislation, policy, and development is complex and indirect, and that a closer look at the factors that intervene in their relationship and determine the nature of their causality (if any), would offer further insight into the prospects of integration of spatial planning and flood risk management.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
This study was part of the Earth and Natural Sciences Doctoral Studies Programme funded by the Higher Education Authority through the Programme for Research at Third Level Institutions, Cycle 5, and cofunded by the European Regional Development Fund.
References
Acevedo, W., Foresman, T. W., and Buchanan, J. T. (1996). “Origins and philosophy of building a temporal database to examine human transformation processes.” ASPRS/ACSM Annual Convention, Vol. 1, American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Baltimore, 148–161.
Albrechts, L. (2006). “Bridge the gap: From spatial planning to strategic projects.” Eur. Plann. Stud., 14(10), 1487–1500.
ArcGIS Desktop 10.1 [Computer software]. Environmental Systems Research Institute, Redlands, CA.
Bågenholm, A., Deegan-Krause, K., and Weeks, L. (2013). “Political data in 2012.” Eur. J. Political Res. Political Data Yearbook, 52(1), 1–19.
Benny, H. (1982). “Implementation research: The link gone missing.” J. Public Policy, 2(3), 301–308.
Booth, D. E. (1999). “Spatial patterns in the economic development of the mountain west.” Growth Change, 30(3), 384–405.
Brody, S. D., and Highfield, W. E. (2013). “Open space protection and flood mitigation: A national study.” Land Use Policy, 32, 89–95.
Buitelaar, E., Galle, M., and Sorel, N. (2011). “Plan-led planning systems in development-led practices: An empirical analysis into the (lack of) institutionalisation of planning law.” Environ. Plann. A, 43(4), 928–941.
Central Statistics Office. (2011). “CSO statistical databases.” ⟨http://www.cso.ie/en/census/⟩ (Nov. 7, 2012).
Dankers, R., and Feyen, L. (2008). “Climate change impact on flood hazard in Europe: An assessment based on high-resolution climate simulations.” J. Geophys. Res.: Atmos., 113(D19), 2156–2202.
Davis, D. (2013). “Sustainable flood risk management.” World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2013, ASCE, Reston, VA, 1665–1677.
Dawson, R. J., Ball, T., Werritty, J., Werritty, A., Hall, J. W., and Roche, N. (2011). “Assessing the effectiveness of non-structural flood management measures in the Thames Estuary under conditions of socioeconomic and environmental change.” Global Environ. Change, 21(2), 628–646.
Department of Environment Heritage and Local Government. (2009). “The planning system and flood risk management: Guidelines for planning authorities.” Ireland and the Office of Public Works, Dublin, Ireland.
Djalante, R., Holley, C., Thomalla, F., and Carnegie, M. (2013). “Pathways for adaptive and integrated disaster resilience.” Nat. Hazards, 69(3), 2105–2135.
Dublin County Council. (1993). “Dublin county development plan 1993: Written statement.” Dublin, Ireland.
Dublin County Council. (2011). “Dublin city development plan 2011–2017: Written statement.” Dublin, Ireland.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. (2010). “Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County development plan 2010–2016: Written statement.” Dublin, Ireland.
EEA (European Environment Agency). (2006). “CORINE land cover.” ⟨http://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps⟩ (Nov. 8, 2012).
Environmental Protection Agency, Ireland. (2015). “CORINE land cover mapping.” ⟨http://www.epa.ie/soilandbiodiversity/soils/land/corine/#.VNtgsp2sWAg⟩ (Feb. 11, 2015).
Environmental Protection Agency, Ireland. (2016). “EPA database.” Dublin, Ireland.
European Parliament and Council. (2007). “Directive 2007/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2007 on the assessment and management of the flood risks.” Strasbourg, France.
Flood Policy Review Group. (2004). “Report of the flood policy review group.” Office of Public Works, Dublin, Ireland.
Fox-Rogers, L., and Murphy, E. (2014). “Informal strategies of power in the local planning system.” Plann. Theory, 13(3), 244–268.
Fox-Rogers, L., Murphy, E., and Grist, B. (2011). “Legislative change in Ireland: A Marxist political economy critique of planning law.” Town Plann. Rev., 82(6), 639–668.
General Post Office. (2010). “GeoDirectory database.” ⟨https://www.geodirectory.ie/⟩ (Nov. 11, 2012).
Gilg, A. W., and Kelly, M. P. (1997). “The delivery of planning policy in Great Britain: Explaining the implementation gap. New evidence from a case study in rural England.” Environ. Plann. C: Government Policy, 15(1), 19–36.
Government of Ireland. (2012). “The final report of the tribunal of inquiry into certain planning matters and payments.” Dublin Stationary Office, Dublin, Ireland.
Grist, B., and Rogers, M. (2001). “Physical planning in Ireland: Lessons from the Masonite decision.” Proc. ICE—Munic. Eng., 145(2), 103–111.
Guha-Sapir, D., Below, R., and Hoyois, P. (2015). “EM-DAT: The International disaster database.” Univ. Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium.
Hall, J., Meadowcroft, I., Sayers, P., and Bramley, M. (2003). “Integrated flood risk management in England and Wales.” Nat. Hazards Rev., 126–135.
Harbor, J. M. (1994). “A practical method for estimating the impact of land-use change on surface runoff, groundwater recharge and wetland hydrology.” J. Am. Plann. Assoc., 60(1), 95–108.
Health Information and Quality Authority. (2012). “Inspection report of Kiltipper Woods Care Centre designated centres under Health Act 2007.” ⟨http://www.hiqa.ie/social-care/find-a-centre/nursing-homes/kiltipper-woods-care-centre⟩ (Feb. 11, 2015).
Howe, J., and White, I. (2004). “Like a fish out of water: The relationship between planning and flood risk management in the U.K.” Plann. Pract. Res., 19(4), 415–425.
Hundecha, Y., and Bárdossy, A. (2004). “Modeling of the effect of land use changes on the runoff generation of a river basin through parameter regionalization of a watershed model.” J. Hydrol., 292(1). 281–295.
Jaeger, J. A. G., Bertiller, R., Schwick, C., and Kienast, F. (2010). “Suitability criteria for measures of urban sprawl.” Ecol. Indic., 10(2), 397–406.
Khailani, D. K., and Perera, R. (2013). “Mainstreaming disaster resilience attributes in local development plans for the adaptation to climate change induced flooding: A study based on the local plan of Shah Alam City, Malaysia.” Land Use Policy, 30(1), 615–627.
Kidd, S. (2007). “Towards a framework of integration in spatial planning: An exploration from a health perspective.” Plann. Theory Pract., 8(2), 161–181.
Kitchin, R., O’Callaghan, C., Gleeson, J., Keaveney, K., and Boyle, M. (2012). “Placing neoliberalism: The rise and fall of Ireland’s Celtic Tiger.” Environ. Plann. A, 44(6), 1302–1326.
Koomen, E., Rietveld, P., and de Nijs, T. (2008). “Modelling land-use change for spatial planning support.” Ann. Reg. Sci., 42(1), 1–10.
Larsson, G. (2006). Spatial planning systems in Western Europe: An overview, IOS Press, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Lowry, K. (1985). “Assessing the implementation of federal coastal policy.” J. Am. Plann. Assoc., 51(3), 288–298.
Lund, J. (1999). “Integrated flood planning with risk-based optimization.” 29th Annual Water Resources Planning and Management Conf., ASCE, Reston, VA.
MacLaran, A., Attuyer, K., and Williams, B. (2010). “Changing office location patterns and their importance in the peripheral expansion of the Dublin region 1960–2008.” J. Irish Urban Stud., 7, 53–77.
McKay, S., Murray, M., MacIntyre, S., and Kashyap, A. (2015). “Evidence-based policymaking and the public interest: Lessons in legitimacy.” Town Plann. Rev., 86(2), 133–154.
McLaughlin, M. W. (1987). “Learning from experience: Lessons from policy implementation.” Educ. Eval. Policy Anal., 9(2), 171–178.
Merz, R., and Blöschl, G. (2009). “A regional analysis of event runoff coefficients with respect to climate and catchment characteristics in Austria.” Water Resour. Res., 45(1), W01405.
Met Eireann. (1986). “Exceptional weather events: Storm Hurricane Charley.” ⟨http://www.met.ie/climate-ireland/weather-events/Aug1986_HurCharlie.pdf⟩ (Feb. 11. 2015).
Miguez, M., Rezende, O., and Veról, A. (2015). “City growth and urban drainage alternatives: Sustainability challenge.” J. Urban Plann. Dev., .
Nadin, V., and Stead, D. (2008). “European spatial planning systems, social models and learning.” Plann. Rev., 44(172), 35–47.
National Parliament (Oireachtas) of Ireland. (1945). “Arterial drainage act.”, Dublin, Ireland.
National Parliament (Oireachtas) of Ireland. (1963). “Local government (planning and development) act.”, Ireland.
National Parliament (Oireachtas) of Ireland. (1995). “Arterial drainage (amendment) act.”, Dublin, Ireland.
National Parliament (Oireachtas) of Ireland. (2000). “Planning and development act.”, Dublin, Ireland.
National Parliament (Oireachtas) of Ireland. (2004). “Planning and development (strategic environmental assessment) regulations.”, Dublin, Ireland.
National Parliament (Oireachtas) of Ireland. (2010). “European communities (assessment and management of flood risks) regulations.”, Dublin, Ireland.
National Parliament (Oireachtas) of Ireland. (2010). “Planning and development (amendment) act.”, Dublin, Ireland.
Neuvel, J. M. M., and Van Den Brink, A. (2009). “Flood risk management in Dutch local spatial planning practices.” J. Environ. Plann. Manage., 52(7), 865–880.
Neuvel, J. M. M., and Van Der Knaap, W. (2010). “A spatial planning perspective for measures concerning flood risk management.” Int. J. Water Resour. Dev., 26(2), 283–296.
Office of Public Works. (2012). “River Dodder catchment flood risk management plan: Draft flood risk assessment and management plan.” Dublin, Ireland.
Ran, J., and Nedovic-Budic, Z. (2016). “Integrating spatial planning and flood risk management: A new conceptual framework for the spatially integrated policy infrastructure.” Comput. Environ. Urban Syst., 57, 68–79.
Sabatier, P. A. (1986). “Top-down and bottom-up approaches to implementation research: A critical analysis and suggested synthesis.” J. Public Policy, 6(1), 21–48.
Sabatier, P. A., and Mazmanian, D. (1979). “The conditions of effective implementation: A guide to accomplishing policy objectives.” Policy Anal., 5(4), 481–504.
Sabatier, P. A., and Mazmanian, D. (1980). “The implementation of public policy: A framework of analysis.” Policy Stud. J., 8(4), 538–560.
Sayers, P. B., Hall, J. W., and Meadowcroft, I. C. (2002). “Towards risk-based flood hazard management in the U.K.” Proc., ICE—Civil Eng., 150(5), 36–42.
South Dublin County Council. (2010). “South Dublin County Council development plan 2010–2016: Written statement.” Dublin, Ireland.
Stead, D., and Meijers, E. (2009). “Spatial planning and policy integration: Concepts, facilitators and inhibitors.” Plann. Theory Pract., 10(3), 317–332.
Sutanta, H., Rajabifard, A., and Bishop, I. D. (2010). “Integrating spatial planning and disaster risk reduction at the local level in the context of spatially enabled government.” Spatially enabling society: Research, emerging trends and critical assessment, Global Spatial Data Infrastructure Association, Taipei, Taiwan, 56–68.
Van Den Hurk, M., Mastenbroek, E., and Meijerink, S. (2014). “Water safety and spatial development: An institutional comparison between the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.” Land Use Policy, 36(1), 416–426.
Van Oosterzee, P., Dale, A., and Preece, N. D. (2014). “Integrating agriculture and climate change mitigation at landscape scale: Implications from an Australian case study.” Global Environ. Change, 29(6), 306–317.
Vigar, G. (2009). “Towards an integrated spatial planning?” Eur. Plann. Stud., 17(11), 1571–1590.
Vukicevic, J., and Nedovic-Budic, Z. (2012). “GIS based multicriteria analysis in integration of SEA process into planning, case study: South west region, Republic of Ireland.” Int. J. Environ. Res., 6(4), 1053–1066.
Walsh, S. (2012). “New long-term rainfall averages for Ireland.” Proc., National Hydrology Conf., Office of Public Works, Trim, Ireland, 3–12 .
Ward, P. (2013). “On the use of tradable development rights for reducing flood risk.” Land Use Policy, 31, 576–583.
Wheater, H., and Evans, E. (2009). “Land use, water management and future flood risk.” Land Use Policy, 26(1), S251–S264.
White, I., and Richards, J. (2007). “Planning policy and flood risk: The translation of national guidance into local policy.” Plann. Pract. Res., 22(4), 513–534.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Volume 143 • Issue 3 • September 2017
Copyright
©2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 29, 2016
Accepted: Sep 27, 2016
Published online: Jan 24, 2017
Discussion open until: Jun 24, 2017
Published in print: Sep 1, 2017
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.