After Sandy: Rethinking Flood Risk Management in Asian Coastal Megacities

A framework for multivariate data-based at-site flood frequency analysis: Essentiality of the conjugal application of parametric and nonparametric approaches

“…Similarly, for V (512 Mcum) and D (21 day), this value is 50 years, and for P (142 Mcum/day) and D (20 day), the return period is 54 years. It should be noted that, in the present study we have not extrapolated the exceedance probability to obtain return period, because it is always difficult to rely purely on statistical assumption to extrapolate future extreme events that have not yet been observed (Schnoor, 2008;Chan et al, 2014). Therefore, we observe the maximum return period as 150 years, which is derived from a streamflow data of 110 years.…”

Trends in flood risk management in deltas around the world: Are we going ‘soft’?

“…The delta has become one of the world's most urbanized deltas. Municipal authorities have to find plenty of new land to satisfy rising demand, and coastal wetland reclamation was initiated recently (Chan, Wright, Cheng, & Griffiths, 2014). Over 86% of the Pearl River Delta coastal area currently relies on 'hard' infrastructure, such as dikes and sea walls, for flood protection (Cai, Huang, Tan, & Chen, 2011).…”

A review of structural approach to flood management in coastal megacities of developing nations: current research and future directions

“…Many CMDN in Asia (e.g. Shenzhen) are experiencing significant economic growth because of the establishment of special economic zones (SEZs) and special tax incentives for foreign investors to operate, and are under immense pressure to expand key urban infrastructure such as transport and housing systems to sustain this growth (Chan et al 2014). Another reason for land reclamation in CMDN is the need to "modernize".…”

“…3. Research focusing on establishing new flood control infrastructure CMDN rely heavily on structural approach to flood management, and in the last few decades, there has been an unprecedented desire to acquire additional flood control infrastructure, often expensive, but deemed to be essential for coping with the demands of a changing climate, sea-level rise and the damaging impacts of large waves (Chan et al 2014;Yin et al 2015). Some studies have highlighted projects involving the planning and construction of additional flood control infrastructure in CMDN.…”

“…While the proposed approach of using injection wells in flood management is a viable solution worth exploring in CMDN, there is need for scientifically rigorous modelling to further understand the direct and indirect impacts on the environment, taking land use and soil profiles into consideration. Chan et al (2012Chan et al ( , 2013Chan et al ( , 2014 and Yin et al (2015) expressed concern that coastal megacities in Asia are overly dependent on structural approaches to flooding, while little or no attention is paid to sustainable flood risk management, which transcends hard engineering measures to include non-structural complementary solutions, such as early warning systems, improved access to flood risk information, emergency evacuation planning, building codes, wider stakeholder engagement, land use, flood insurance and environmental education programs. Although these are not the focus of this study, it is important to highlight that non-structural measures are equally crucial in minimising flood impacts in CMDN.…”