Articles | Volume 22, issue 11
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-5629-2018
© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-5629-2018
© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Opinion article
| 
30 Oct 2018
Opinion article |
| 30 Oct 2018
| 30 Oct 2018
Hess Opinions: An interdisciplinary research agenda to explore the unintended consequences of structural flood protection
Giuliano Di Baldassarre
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, 75236,
Sweden
Centre of Natural Hazards and Disaster Science (CNDS), Sweden
Heidi Kreibich
GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
Sergiy Vorogushyn
GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
Jeroen Aerts
Institute for Environmental Studies, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam,
Amsterdam, 1081, the Netherlands
Karsten Arnbjerg-Nielsen
Department of Environmental Engineering, Technical University of
Denmark, Kgs. Lyngby, 2800, Denmark
Marlies Barendrecht
Centre for Water Resource Systems, Vienna University of
Technology, 1040 Vienna, Austria
Paul Bates
School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8
1SS, UK
Marco Borga
Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry,
Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova, 35122, Italy
Wouter Botzen
Institute for Environmental Studies, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam,
Amsterdam, 1081, the Netherlands
Utrecht University School of Economics (USE.), Utrecht University,
Utrecht, the Netherlands
Philip Bubeck
Institute of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Potsdam,
14469 Potsdam, Germany
Bruna De Marchi
SVT, Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities,
University of Bergen, Bergen, 5020, Norway
Carmen Llasat
Department of Applied Physics, University of Barcelona, Barcelona,
08007, Spain
Maurizio Mazzoleni
Department of Integrated Water Systems and Governance, IHE Delft,
Delft, 2601, the Netherlands
Daniela Molinari
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Politecnico di
Milano, Milan, 20133, Italy
Elena Mondino
Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, 75236,
Sweden
Centre of Natural Hazards and Disaster Science (CNDS), Sweden
Johanna Mård
Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, 75236,
Sweden
Centre of Natural Hazards and Disaster Science (CNDS), Sweden
Olga Petrucci
CNR-IRPI National Research Council – Research Institute for
Geo-Hydrological Protection, Rende (CS), 87036, Italy
Anna Scolobig
Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zürich,
Zürich, 8092, Switzerland
Alberto Viglione
Centre for Water Resource Systems, Vienna University of
Technology, 1040 Vienna, Austria
Philip J. Ward
Institute for Environmental Studies, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam,
Amsterdam, 1081, the Netherlands
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Latest update: 13 Mar 2026
Short summary
One common approach to cope with floods is the implementation of structural flood protection measures, such as levees. Numerous scholars have problematized this approach and shown that increasing levels of flood protection can generate a false sense of security and attract more people to the risky areas. We briefly review the literature on this topic and then propose a research agenda to explore the unintended consequences of structural flood protection.
One common approach to cope with floods is the implementation of structural flood protection...
