The resilient city: What urban form characteristics to adapt to flood risks? (Case of the city of Skikda-Algeria)

Abstract

Disaster risk reduction has become a global consensus and an integral part of sustainable development. The built environment can mitigate or exacerbate the spread of flood risks and help to achieve resilience. This paper questions the characteristics of resilient urban forms to adapt to flood risks in urban areas. This concern was analysed using a methodology based on urban morphological indicators, applied to the city of Skikda in north-eastern Algeria.
The results identify five key factors of resilient urban form which are: connectivity, diversity, redundancy, modularity and finally efficiency; their potential is to identify gaps and uncertainties to establish possible links between geometric parameters characterizing urban forms and key indicators of urban flood severity.