Urbanization impacts on flash urban floods in Bodrum Province, Turkey

Stormwater, which cannot penetrate the soil surface due to the impermeable layer created by urbanization, inevitably causes floods. Therefore, the change in urban areas and calculation of flood size are of great importance in urban flood management. In this study, five basins are examined which have been experiencing floods caused by increasing urbanization in Bodrum, one of Turkey's most important tourism centres. Firstly, the effect of urbanization changes on the flood size was calculated, according to satellite images from 1984, 2010, 2011 and 2019, using the Natural Resources Conservation Service curve number method. Then, the multi-criteria decision-making model was used to create flood-risk maps of basins. As a result of the study, it was determined that the increase in urbanization in the period from 1984 to 2019 caused the flood flows to increase as well as the size of the areas at risk to increase.

Automated summary

This study calculated the impact of urbanization on flood size using satellite images, and developed flood-risk maps of basins using a multi-criteria decision-making model. It was found that the increase in urbanization led to an increase in flood flows and the size of risk areas from 1984 to 2019.