Water Safe Cities - Technical Report

Tristian Stolte*, Philip Ward, Hans de Moel, Neuni Farhad, Snigdha Garg, Rachel Huxley, Felix van Veldhoven, Eva Boon, Daniël Staal

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Book / ReportReportAcademic

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Abstract

Climate change, urbanisation and population growth are causing water availability and safety issues in cities around the world. Of all natural hazards, flood and drought affected the most people between 2000 and 2019. Around 1.65 billion people were impacted by floods and 1.43 billion by drought. Whether it be too much water too quickly, with extreme rainfall resulting in flash flooding in urban areas, or not enough water, because of long-term drought conditions, no city is immune to these climatic changes. Sea-level rise and storm surges could force hundreds of millions of people in coastal cities from their homes at a total cost of more than US$ 1 trillion a year by 2050. This increased migration and urbanisation is putting pressure on city water systems and infrastructure. Floods and droughts are, therefore, threatening the welfare of urban citizens and the critical services and operation of cities. Cities and their leaders need to understand this complex and imminent threat and its consequences. Knowing how much flooding and drought a city will experience and the potential impacts of these hazards will prompt city authorities and financiers to take action on adaptation and resilience. To this end, the analysis behind Water-safe Cities report quantifies the future hazards of flooding and drought in 97 C40 cities by 2050 and the expected annual impact this will have on populations, urban infrastructure and the gross domestic product (GDP) of a city. The modelling and analysis have been used to develop interactive maps hosted on the Water-safe Cities webpage and the key headlines and messages of the research.
Original languageEnglish
PublisherC40
Number of pages27
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2022

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