Flood protection and heritage conservation on rivers and streams

The Technische Universitaet Dresden, Germany held an international colloquium in March: 'Integrating Competing Interests in Urban Development International Scientific Colloquium'.

Evidence of increasingly severe river floods in recent decades has spurred unprecedented efforts in Germany, Europe and many other regions of the world to reduce these threats through flood control measures. While there is general agreement that flood management should first of all be pursued by strengthening natural water retention, such efforts allow limited improvements for urbanised floodplains. Their execution often collides with other land-use concerns and requires long-range planning. Communities are therefore increasingly asking for protective structures to be built along the endangered areas. River flood control techniques have been greatly improved in recent years, but such measures are usually extensive and structurally invasive. They may compromise urban design and landscape qualities, historic monuments and sites, and tourist appeal, and thus affect the quality of life and the overall value of a location. This aspect has not been sufficiently taken into consideration so far, and it is rarely considered adequately and early enough in planning such projects.

This event addressed basic parameters and experiences from different geographic, political, economic and cultural contexts; promising approaches and strategies for the preservation of urban and cultural landscapes along rivers and streams and for building environmentally-sound protection systems.

Further information is provided in the attached PDF or can be found here.