Adaptive Use of Jeddah’s Green Infrastructure Through Flood Risk Management

Abstract

Jeddah has faced many problems in terms of urban flooding and stormwater management. The impact of this issue is accelerated by the urban growth and climate change, increasing the amount and frequency of rainfall while decreasing the cities overall absorbency. This research then aims to assess the risk level of the various areas in Jeddah, and provide them with green infrastructure solutions to the urban flooding problem. This research generates a flood risk assessment of 90 defined districts in the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with assigned flood mitigation strategies. It does so by creating a flood risk assessment model using hazard and vulnerability indicators. The research begins by studying the problems and impacts of urban flooding and the different approaches used in flood risk assessment and flood mitigation. It then goes on to investigate and list the various indicators used for risk assessment and green infrastructure strategies used to counter urban floods. The research then uses the set of predefined indicators, modifying it to fit the local context, and creating a set score for the different scales of the given indictors. All districts, within the scope of study, are then evaluated and classified with their final scores positioning them in a flood risk assessment matrix. The districts are then classified into one of three categories, high, moderate, or low, in relation to both their probability of flooding, and their risk of flooding. Based on these classifications, the districts are assigned a priority, and specific green infrastructure strategies, according to their inherit characteristics.