The Effect Of Urban Green Spaces In Reducing Urban Flooding In Lahore, Pakistan, Using Geospatial Techniques

Abstract

Urban Green Spaces (UGS) curtails all environmental issues and ensure an eco-friendly locale. Similarly, the emergence of UGS is very helpful to cope with emerging urban flooding in cities by setting up the world standard of green space ratio (20 to 25 percent of the area) and green per capita (9m2 ) in a geographical area. Therefore, the present study is conducted to evaluate the causal effect relation of UGS with the frequency of urban flooding. For this purpose, 69 selected union councils are taken as a study area in District Lahore, Pakistan. The relation between UGS and the occurrence of floods is evaluated using geo-statistical and geospatial analysis techniques during the monsoon rainfalls from 2013 to 2019. Furthermore, the data sets of sore points (inundated areas), occurrences of urban flooding (number of event occurrences), green per capita, and green ratio are used. Results revealed that selected union councils in Lahore don’t have enough urban green spaces. There is only a 51 sq km area with adequate UGS that accounts for only 18 percent of the study area. The rest of the area does not meet the world standards of green area. There are some areas including Ravi town, Gulberg town, and Samanabad town with green per capita more than 4 green per capita. On the other hand, there are only 02 union councils including Race Course and Model Town that are comprised of a 20 percent green area. The findings of the study will be helpful for proper urban planning and strategies i.e. with greener structures.

A Novel GIS-SWMM-ABM Approach for Flood Risk Assessment in Data-Scarce Urban Drainage Systems

“…Urban drainage system efficiency is key to improving socio-economic and environmental conditions, particularly in developing countries. Lahore, exceeding a population of 13 million and approximately 1772 km 2 [32,33], faces significant drainage challenges due to inadequate infrastructure. Data scarcity on urban runoff processes and storm events further hinders effective drainage system design.…”

“…Data scarcity on urban runoff processes and storm events further hinders effective drainage system design. Studies suggest a complex interplay between urban flood frequency and severity, including climate-driven changes in precipitation, increased surface runoff due to urbanization, and their combined effects [10,11,17,[33][34][35]. Current research emphasizes the urgent need for adaptation in the face of climate change, particularly in data-scarce regions [10].…”