Flood Vulnerability Management in the Light of Resilience Based on Surviving and Thriving (Case Study: Noh Darah in Mashhad City)

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Associate Professor, Department of Geography and Urban Planning, Payam Noor University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Rainfall flooding is a pressing disaster risk and a clear urban policy concern that is becoming increasingly urgent. This paper focused on two critiques of flood resilience concerning the narrative shift towards survival and the tension between advocating stability and dynamism.The current research was executed in a descriptive and analytical manner to elucidate some of the obscured facets of this field. The requisite data was amassed utilizing survey and field methodologies. To facilitate data collection, a researcher-developed questionnaire was employed. Prior to the practical application of the questionnaire, it underwent a thorough evaluation concerning its validity and reliability. Based on the evaluations provided by experts in flood risk management, urban management, and policymaking, as well as a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.80, the suitability of the questionnaire was affirmed. In this paper 16 indicators were used across the main categories of vulnerability of place, individual sensitivity, and the individual and neighborhood capacities to prepare for flooding. The collected data were converted through a min-max normalization to give each neighborhood a relative score between 0 and 1. The results showed housing characteristics in Mashhad contributed to place vulnerability to flooding. For this reason, basement areas were at greater risk of rainfall flooding and also flooded in 2024. The physical flood risk was increased in Mashhad through previous changes to transport infrastructure and the urban environment and neighborhood typology impacted on place vulnerability. The data illustrate variations in individual sensitivity to flooding across the neighborhoods in study area. Overall, the interactions of socio-spatial vulnerability and the mismatch of responsibility and capacity provides new insights into the difficulties associated with ‘flood resilience’ and the need to be critical of potential city flood resilience narratives in practice that emphasize ‘surviving and thriving’ whilst ignoring the variation in socio-spatial characteristics of neighborhoods within their cities.

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References

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Geography and Territorial Spatial Arrangement
Volume 15, Issue 57
November 2025
Pages 143-168

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History

  • Receive Date: 22 May 2025
  • Revise Date: 05 October 2025
  • Accept Date: 13 October 2025

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