Adaptation to Flood Risk in Areas with Cultural Heritage

Abstract

The present paper discusses a novel approach for flood risk assessment and mitigation in areas with cultural heritage. The ambition of the present paper is to provide a ‘road map’ of the holistic way of working towards climate change adaptation which was introduced in some earlier publications of authors. It is designed to provide the reader with some basic ideas of the holistic view of flood risk, its practicalities and supporting frameworks for implementation. The work was undertaken in Ayutthaya heritage site in Thailand. The approach combined qualitative and quantitative data and methods. The qualitative part of analysis involved a more active role of stakeholders whereas the quantitative part was based on the use of numerical models and engineering principles. Based on the results obtained, this paper argues that perceptions of flood hazard and flood risk (i.e., qualitative part of analysis) yield a richer understanding of the problems and should be incorporated into the engineering analysis (i.e., quantitative part of analysis) to achieve more effective climate change adaptation and flood risk mitigation. Several benefits can be achieved applying the approach advocated in this paper. First, the combination of qualitative and quantitative data and methods opens up new views for risk analysis and selection of measures. Second, since it is based on a more active stakeholder participation the potential for success of this novel approach should be higher than any of the traditional approaches. Finally, design of measures can generate more favourable alternative as it employs a combination of measures that can deliver multiple benefits to stakeholders.