Contributing to urban resilience to floods with neighbourhood design: the case of Am Sandtorkai/Dalmannkai in Hamburg

On-going changes in cities caused by rapid urbanisation and climate change have increased both the flood probability and the severity of flooding. Consequently, there is a need for all cities to adapt to climate and socio-economic changes by developing new strategies for flood risk management. The following risk paradigm shifts from traditional to more integrated approaches, since one of the main emerging tasks for city managers is the development of resilient cities. The concept of resilience is becoming more and more important, despite the many challenges that interfere with its implementation. The goal of this research is to create knowledge on how to operationalise flood resilience at the neighbourhood level through neighbourhood design. A research approach was used and a qualitative analysis tool, the DS3 model, was developed in order to study a particular neighbourhood of HafenCity, in Hamburg. Results show that design measures involving transportation infrastructure, land use (open public spaces) and buildings have been the main contributions to the flood resilience of the neighbourhood.