Measuring the resilience to floods: A comparative analysis of key flood control cities in China

Floods are among the most deadly disasters that affect people's well-being and livelihoods in China. Although improving resilience to floods is an important measure for disaster mitigation, few studies compare flood resilience in different watershed regions in China. To fill this gap, we constructed a comprehensive evaluation model that focused on revising the indicator system. We used the entropy-weighting TOPSIS method to comprehensively consider the four dimensions of economy, society, environment, and management, and then we diagnosed the resilience to flood disasters in 31 key flood control cities across China. The results showed that both cities in the Haihe River Basin and the provincial capitals had a stronger resilience to flooding than other basins, but for the cities of the Huaihe River Basin, resilience was weaker. In some regions with weak economic strength, however, the resilience to floods was strong. The levels of urban infrastructure, water conservation projects, and information about water conservation should be enhanced to improve flood resilience.

Automated summary

Through the study of 31 key flood control cities in China, it was found that cities in the Haihe River Basin and provincial capitals have stronger resilience to floods, while cities in the Huaihe River Basin show weaker resilience. In some regions with weaker economic strength, however, there is strong resilience to floods.