Holistic approach to flood risk assessment in areas with cultural heritage: a practical application in Ayutthaya, Thailand

Abstract

This research proposes a holistic approach to flood risk assessment that combines quantitative and qualitative aspects. This approach was developed and applied in the Ayutthaya region in Thailand, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. First, flood risk was assessed traditionally as a product of hazard and vulnerability. Both qualitative and quantitative data were gathered from publicly available sources and through interviews, questionnaires, and focus group discussions to assess the vulnerability, using various weights for the different vulnerability dimensions. The hazard was assessed using a coupled 1D-2D flood model, and the resulting vulnerability and risk were mapped. Second, an alternative flood risk map was produced based on group mapping exercises with local residents, which captures the level of perceived risk. The traditional flood risk map was adjusted by varying the vulnerability weights to better match the perceived risk map. The analysis of these two maps revealed that two approaches to flood risk assessment can be used effectively in gaining different insights of the phenomena, and as such, they both should be used in flood risk management planning.

Participatory flood vulnerability assessment: a multi-criteria approach

“…Since they do not require detailed data as damage and fragility curves, flood vulnerability indicators have been extensively deployed to assess the social vulnerability (Fekete, 2009;Frigerio and de Amicis, 2016), socioeconomic vulnerability (Kienberger et al, 2009), and physical vulnerability (Godfrey et al, 2015;Kappes et al, 2012), as well as to combine multiple dimensions of vulnerability (Roy and Blaschke, 2013;Vojinovic et al, 2016).…”

High Resolution Decision Maps for Urban Planning: A Combined Analysis of Urban Flooding and Thermal Stress Potential In Asia and Europe

“…However, there is a great body of literature which suggests that great care is needed in the data collection and processing as well as the need to use an appropriate numerical modelling technique [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. The DEM resolution used in the Ayutthaya work was 20x20 m. The model and maps produced were used for communication with local stakeholders and selection of remedial and flood protection works [3].…”

Combining Ecosystem Services with Cost-Benefit Analysis for Selection of Green and Grey Infrastructure for Flood Protection in a Cultural Setting

“…The participants were encouraged to address these issues and produce a consensus-based, composite risk assessment of the area (based on their perceptions and experiences), further narrowing the location of the proposed flood mitigation measures. Figure 11b depicts a composite risk perception map of the area (see also [48]). …”