2.

Literature Review

this is the first paragraphs of the literature review , and doc has answer to all the questions 2.1
Urban flood vulnerability and Global South

Floor exposure and it’s impacts are inextricably linked to economic condition. Lower or middle
income countries, especially disadvantageous neighborhoods faces higher floor risk then the
better off ones(Kephart et al., 2025; Pala et al., 2025; Rentschler et al., 2022), with socio-
hydrological modelling emphasizing their disproportionately experienced loses, slower recovery
and reinforcing inequality(Amoako & Inkoom, 2018; Moulds et al., 2021). The unavailability of
affordable, legal land forces informal settlement to occupy marginal, environmentally fragile,
and flood‐prone lands (Bhanye, 2025; Moulds et al., 2021; Williams et al., 2018), with studies
showing that residents of informal settlements are “compelled to live in the most unsafe
locations” and are consistently over‐exposed to flooding(Anwana & Owojori, 2023; Bhanye,
2025; Williams et al., 2018). Furthermore, case studies from Dhaka show that one‐third of the
city’s population lives in low‐income settlements, with many on highly flood‐prone land(Haque,
2021; Haque et al., 2020). Due to higher affordability built up area in flood prone areas and
coastal zones are experiencing rapid growth, especially in delta cities(Dulawan et al., 2024;
Tierolf et al., 2021). So, it is affordability constraints, not informed residential preference, that
systematically displace low-income populations toward floodplain [Link]

1. Does land-use planning in rapidly urbanising cities fail to account for flood risk?

2. Is there a mismatch between flood hazard zones and zoning designations in Asian cities?

3. How does urban planning in Bangladesh or South Asia respond to flood hazard?

4. Does statutory land-use planning in developing countries increase flood vulnerability?

5. Are informal settlements in delta cities located in areas designated as flood hazard zones?

Urban land-use planning and flood risk in rapidly urbanising cities

Across recent research, urban development often increases, rather than reduces, flood risk, especially in
rapidly urbanising Asian and delta cities.

1–2. Do plans account for flood risk / are there zoning–hazard mismatches?

Does statutory urban land-use planning adequately avoid high flood hazard zones in rapidly urbanising
cities?

Requires at least 5 papers that directly answer your question. Try adjusting your query to find more
papers.
Does urban planning effectively reduce flood risk in cities?

Figure 1 Consensus on land-use planning and flood risk

In Bhubaneswar, India, disaster risk assessment was not incorporated in the master plan; buildings near
high-risk zones follow the same rules as low-risk zones, revealing a clear planning–hazard
mismatch(Sahu et al., 2021).

Globally, settlements have expanded disproportionately into flood zones since 1985, especially in East
Asia, where growth in high-hazard zones outpaced safe zones by 60%(Rentschler et al., 2023a).

In Indonesia’s northern Central Java, rapid urbanization and lack or poor implementation of land-use
planning have increased land exposed to floods (Handayani et al., 2020).

Modelling for Southeast Asia shows urban expansion commonly occurs in river deltas and floodplains, so
“development out of harm’s way” rarely happens without strong planning controls (Tierolf et al., 2021)

3–4. South Asia/Bangladesh and statutory planning

A review of South Asian cities finds they still rely heavily on structural measures; risk-informed,
integrated spatial planning is largely missing or nascent (Manandhar et al., 2023)

For Dhaka, multiple plans exist, but they do not adequately address combined climate change and
unplanned urbanisation effects; spatial planning is largely absent from adaptation strategies (Ahmed et
al., 2018)

Agent-based and scenario studies show that where planning does not restrict development in
flood-prone zones, future damages rise sharply, whereas strict development control in hazard zones
substantially mitigates risk (Ku, 2024; Mustafa et al., 2018)

5. Informal settlements and delta cities

Informal settlements often occupy marginal, flood-prone land, with authorities in cities like Jakarta
explicitly blaming residents for building in flood zones while offering weak protection(Moulds et al.,
2021)

A global review highlights that residents of informal settlements are frequently “compelled to live in the
most unsafe locations, such as floodplains” (Anwana & Owojori, 2023)

In delta and river-basin contexts (Indonesia, Brazil, Ghana), informal settlements in low-lying or deltaic
areas show high exposure and vulnerability to recurrent floods (Handayani et al., 2020; Santos et al.,
2022)

Conclusion
Overall, research indicates that in many rapidly urbanising (especially Asian and South Asian) cities,
statutory land-use planning often fails to keep growth out of flood hazard zones, contributing to
increased exposure, particularly for informal settlements and delta cities.

Maladaptation in urban planning and zoning

Coastal municipalities in Massachusetts knowingly approve major waterfront redevelopment in areas

Boston’s Seaport District is used to illustrate a “resilience fix”: resilience policies are adopted while
intensive new development proceeds in a highly flood-prone waterfront, producing climate strategies
that “undermine the aims of urban resilience” and create maladaptation along temporal and social
dimensions(Humphries, 2025)

In Chilean low-lying coastal zones, local plans allow significant densification of exposed residential areas
(up to 9–11× current densities) without designating them as risk areas, despite projected climate-driven
flooding, showing a planning–hazard mismatch that entrenches future exposure (León et al., 2023)

Does flood-zone development increase long-term risk?

Global data show human settlements have expanded disproportionately into flood zones since 1985,
especially in East Asia, “amplifying exposure” rather than adapting to more frequent climatic shocks
(Rentschler et al., 2023)

Historical and cross-regional case studies (Yangtze, Mississippi, Brisbane, etc.) find that urban
encroachment into floodplains, often behind structural defences, creates “creeping” floodplain
occupation and higher long-term risk as climate hazards intensify(Keenan-Jones et al., 2025)

Studies from Vietnam, India, Egypt and Qatar link rapid, poorly planned urban expansion over
floodplains and wetlands to significant increases in runoff, flood frequency and exposure, even where
rainfall is stable or declining (Duy et al., 2017; Keenan-Jones et al., 2025; Nguyen et al., 2021)

Lock-in of climate vulnerability

Reviews of urban sustainability and resilience highlight that lock-in effects in urban form and
infrastructure are under-discussed, but can prevent later adaptation and foster maladaptation if early
decisions embed high exposure patterns (Buzási & Csizovszky, 2023)

Fiscal structures based on land-based taxation incentivize continued high-value development in

Conclusion

Across multiple regions, urban planning and land-use zoning often promote dense development in
floodplains and coastal lowlands, which functions as maladaptatizon by locking cities into rising climate
and flood risk and constraining future adaptive options.
References

Ahmed, F., Moors, E., Khan, M. S. A., Warner, J., & Terwisscha van Scheltinga, C. (2018). Tipping points in

adaptation to urban flooding under climate change and urban growth: The case of the Dhaka

megacity. Land Use Policy, 79, 496–506. [Link]

Anwana, E. O., & Owojori, O. M. (2023). Analysis of Flooding Vulnerability in Informal Settlements

Literature: Mapping and Research Agenda. Social Sciences, 12(1).

[Link]

Buzási, A., & Csizovszky, A. (2023). Urban sustainability and resilience: What the literature tells us about

“lock-ins”? Ambio, 52(3), 616–630. [Link]

Duy, P. N., Chapman, L., Tight, M., Linh, P. N., & Thuong, L. V. (2017). Increasing vulnerability to floods in

new development areas: Evidence from Ho Chi Minh City. International Journal of Climate

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0169

Handayani, W., Chigbu, U. E., Rudiarto, I., & Putri, I. H. S. (2020). Urbanization and Increasing Flood Risk

in the Northern Coast of Central Java—Indonesia: An Assessment towards Better Land Use

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Humphries, C. (2025). An urban resilience fix: Resolving waterfront development and flood risks in

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[Link]

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León, J., Winckler, P., Vicuña, M., Guzmán, S., & Larraguibel, C. (2023). Assessing the Role of Land-Use

Planning in Near Future Climate-Driven Scenarios in Chilean Coastal Cities. Sustainability, 15(4).

[Link]

Manandhar, B., Cui, S., Wang, L., & Shrestha, S. (2023). Urban Flood Hazard Assessment and

Management Practices in South Asia: A Review. Land, 12(3).

[Link]

Moulds, S., Buytaert, W., Templeton, M. R., & Kanu, I. (2021). Modeling the Impacts of Urban Flood Risk

Management on Social Inequality. Water Resources Research, 57(6), e2020WR029024.

[Link]

Mustafa, A., Bruwier, M., Archambeau, P., Erpicum, S., Pirotton, M., Dewals, B., & Teller, J. (2018).

Effects of spatial planning on future flood risks in urban environments. Journal of Environmental

Management, 225, 193–204. [Link]

Nguyen, H. D., Fox, D., Dang, D. K., Pham, L. T., Du, Q. V. V., Nguyen, T. H. T., Dang, T. N., Tran, V. T., Vu,

P. L., Nguyen, Q.-H., Nguyen, T. G., Bui, Q.-T., & Petrisor, A.-I. (2021). Predicting Future Urban

Flood Risk Using Land Change and Hydraulic Modeling in a River Watershed in the Central

Province of Vietnam. Remote Sensing, 13(2). [Link]

Rentschler, J., Avner, P., Marconcini, M., Su, R., Strano, E., Vousdoukas, M., & Hallegatte, S. (2023a).

Global evidence of rapid urban growth in flood zones since 1985. Nature, 622(7981), 87–92.

[Link]

Rentschler, J., Avner, P., Marconcini, M., Su, R., Strano, E., Vousdoukas, M., & Hallegatte, S. (2023b).

Global evidence of rapid urban growth in flood zones since 1985. Nature, 622(7981), 87–92.

[Link]
Sahu, A., Bose, T., & Samal, D. R. (2021). Urban Flood Risk Assessment and Development of Urban Flood

Resilient Spatial Plan for Bhubaneswar. Environment and Urbanization ASIA, 12(2), 269–291.

[Link]

Santos, A. P., Rodriguez-Lopez, J. M., Chiarel, C., & Scheffran, J. (2022). Unequal Landscapes:

Vulnerability Traps in Informal Settlements of the Jacuí River Delta (Brazil). Urban Science, 6(4).

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Shi, L., & Varuzzo, A. M. (2020). Surging seas, rising fiscal stress: Exploring municipal fiscal vulnerability

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Tierolf, L., de Moel, H., & van Vliet, J. (2021). Modeling urban development and its exposure to river

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