2023 journal article
Spatially interactive modeling of land change identifies location-specific adaptations most likely to lower future flood risk
Scientific Reports, 13(1).
open access via www.nature.com (publisher PDF)
UN Sustainable Development Goal Categories
2. Zero Hunger
(Web of Science)
11. Sustainable Cities and Communities
(Web of Science; OpenAlex)
13. Climate Action
(Web of Science)
14. Life Below Water
(Web of Science)
15. Life on Land
(Web of Science)
Source: ORCID
Added: January 28, 2024
AbstractImpacts of sea level rise will last for centuries; therefore, flood risk modeling must transition from identifying risky locations to assessing how populations can best cope. We present the first spatially interactive (i.e., what happens at one location affects another) land change model (FUTURES 3.0) that can probabilistically predict urban growth while simulating human migration and other responses to flooding, essentially depicting the geography of impact and response. Accounting for human migration reduced total amounts of projected developed land exposed to flooding by 2050 by 5%–24%, depending on flood hazard zone (50%–0.2% annual probability). We simulated various “what-if” scenarios and found managed retreat to be the only intervention with predicted exposure below baseline conditions. In the business-as-usual scenario, existing and future development must be either protected or abandoned to cope with future flooding. Our open framework can be applied to different regions and advances local to regional-scale efforts to evaluate potential risks and tradeoffs.