A Systemic Approach to Evaluate the Flood Vulnerability for an Urban Study Case in Southern Italy

Abstract

Currently, the urban flooding is one of the most concerning problems in hydraulic protection, both for the enormous number of people and the different elements (buildings, roads, vehicles, and so on) potentially exposed to risk, as well as the complexity of the territory at issue. At the practical level, vulnerability indicators are often predictably too narrow in their coverage of aspects of vulnerability. An important need remains to produce more conceptually informed vulnerability indicators or parameters and more satisfactory operational tools to assess weaknesses and resilience in coping with natural risks. In this paper, we present an innovative methodology that adopts a systemic approach to evaluate the vulnerability due to a flood scenario. The operative efficiency of the proposed GIS tool is validated in pilot application site, i.e. an urban area in Puglia Region, Southern Italy, on the basis of, studies surveys and damages carried out from a recent flood event occurred in the area. The model evaluates the direct structural damages and explores the potential operating conditions of the road network in case of the flood event. The resulting vulnerability assessment tool can guide evaluators towards a comprehensive understanding of strengths and fragilities of a territory and community where a flood occurs embedding and integrating as much as possible the multifaceted and articulated nature of an urban system.