Towards a socio-ecological system understanding of urban flood risk and barriers to climate change adaptation using causal loop diagrams
Hanf, Franziska S., Ament, Felix, Boettcher, Marita, Burgemeister, Finn, Gaslikova, Lidia, Hoffmann, Peter, Knieling, Jörg, Matthias, Volker, Meier, Linda, Pein, Johannes, Poschlod, Benjamin, Quante, Markus, Ratzke, Leonie, Rudolph, Elisabeth, Scheffran, Jürgen, Schlünzen, Heinke K., Shokri, Nima, Sillmann, Jana, Vogelbacher, Anastasia, von Szombathely, Malte et al., (2025). Towards a socio-ecological system understanding of urban flood risk and barriers to climate change adaptation using causal loop diagrams. International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development, 17(1), 69-102
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Sub-type Journal article Author Hanf, Franziska S.
Ament, Felix
Boettcher, Marita
Burgemeister, Finn
Gaslikova, Lidia
Hoffmann, Peter
Knieling, Jörg
Matthias, Volker
Meier, Linda
Pein, Johannes
Poschlod, Benjamin
Quante, Markus
Ratzke, Leonie
Rudolph, Elisabeth
Scheffran, Jürgen
Schlünzen, Heinke K.
Shokri, Nima
Sillmann, Jana
Vogelbacher, Anastasia
von Szombathely, Malte
Wickel, MartinTitle Towards a socio-ecological system understanding of urban flood risk and barriers to climate change adaptation using causal loop diagrams Appearing in International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development Volume 17 Issue No. 1 Publication Date 2025-04-04 Place of Publication United Kingdom Publisher Taylor & Francis Start page 69 End page 102 Language eng Abstract While cities are facing increasing challenges of flood risk due to combined effects of climate change and socioeconomic development, understanding of the complexity of urban flood risk is still limited, hampering decision-making and urban adaptation planning. This study presents a qualitative system dynamics modelling framework to investigate urban flood risk and adaptation under climate change in a coupled socio-ecological system, the city of Hamburg. The developed integrated conceptual model provides a holistic understanding of key physical and socio-economic processes and the role of feedback loops underlying the urban system, and contributes to the understanding of vicious cycles of barriers that perpetuate and hinder adaptation processes within cities. The qualitative approach can help to break down silo-thinking in urban flood risk assessments. Decision-makers could use the framework to understand the complexity of interactions among multiple drivers of flood risk to overcome barriers and lock-in effects to adaptation in cities. Keyword urban flood risk
Climate change adaptation
socio-ecological system analysis
system dynamics modelling
causal loop diagrams
feedback loops
participatory modelling
barriers to urban adaptationCopyright Holder The Author(s) Copyright Year 2025 Copyright type Creative commons -
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