University of Groningen
Planning for flood resilient cities
Restemeyer, Britta
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Restemeyer, B. (2018). Planning for flood resilient cities: From promise to practice?. Rijksuniversiteit
Groningen.
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PLANNING FOR
FLOOD RESILIENT CITIES
FROM PROMISE TO PRACTICE?
ISBN 978-94-034-0680-0 (printed) ISBN 978-94-034-0679-4 (digital)
Design & lay-out: Designdays / Nynke Visser Printed by: Gildeprint
© B. Restemeyer, 2018
All rights are reserved. No parts of this thesis may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission of the author.
Planning for Flood Resilient Cities
From Promise to Practice?
Proefschrift
ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
op gezag van de
rector magnificus prof. dr. E. Sterken
en volgens besluit van het College voor Promoties.
De openbare verdediging zal plaatsvinden op
donderdag 31 mei 2018 om 12.45 uur
door
Britta Restemeyer
geboren op 11 april 1986
te Oldenburg, Duitsland
Promotor Prof. J. Woltjer
Co-Promotor
Dr. M.A. van den Brink
Beoordelingscommissie Prof. E.J.M.M. Arts Prof. D. Huitema Prof. S. Davoudi
Contents
1. Introduction: Planning for flood resilient cities 8
1.1 Growing cities, growing flood risks 9
1.2 A paradigm shift in flood risk management 11
1.3 Introducing resilience to the field of flood risk management 14 1.4 Towards flood resilience? A strategy-making and implementation
challenge 17
1.5 A qualitative case study approach with cases from three cities 19
1.6 Research design and thesis outline 22
References 26
2. Resilience unpacked - Framing of ‘uncertainty’ and ‘adaptability’ in long-term flood risk management strategies in the regions of
London and Rotterdam 34
2.1 Introduction 35
2.2 Resilience and flood risk management: a paradigm shift or two
worlds colliding? 37
2.3 The importance of policy framing 40
2.4 Methodology: Analysis of policy frames 41
2.5 The TE2100 Plan: the ‘scientific pragmatism’ frame 44
2.6 The Dutch Delta Programme: the ‘joint fact-finding’ frame 49
2.7 Discussion 54
2.8 Conclusions 55
References 57
Appendix: Overview policy documents 60
3. Between adaptability and the urge to control: making long-term water
policies in the Netherlands 62
3.1 Introduction 63
3.2 Towards flood resilience: making long-term and adaptive water policies 65
3.3 Case introduction and methodology 69
3.4 The Dutch Delta Programme – an agile governance process? 73
3.5 ADM – making flexible strategies 76
3.6 Preventing lock-ins? 80
3.7 Reflections and conclusions 82
References 86
4. Decentralised implementation of flood resilience measures – a blessing or a curse? Lessons from the Thames Estuary 2100 Plan and the Royal
Docks regeneration 92
4.1 Introduction 93
4.2 Flood resilience – an implementation challenge 94
4.3 The English context – enabling the implementation of flood
resilience measures? 97
4.4 Analysing the implementation of the TE2100 Plan in Newham
and the Royal Docks 99
4.5 The TE2100 Plan and Newham’s Royal Docks development 102
4.6 Reflection and conclusions 111
References 114
Appendix: Overview of policy documents 117
5. A strategy-based framework for assessing the flood resilience of cities –
a Hamburg case study 118
5.1 Introduction 119
5.2 A more holistic perspective on flood resilience strategies 121 5.3 A strategy-based framework for assessing the flood resilience of cities 123
5.4 Methodology 128
5.5 Case study: Hamburg – A flood resilient city? 129
5.6 Conclusions 139
References 142
6. Conclusions: Planning for flood resilient cities – from promise to practice? 146
6.1 Introduction 147
6.2 Resilience – more talk than action? 149
6.3 ‘Adaptive strategies’ – a technical-rational interpretation prevails 154
6.4 ‘Stickiness’ and path-dependency 158
6.5 The growing importance of the local level 162
6.6 Final remarks and suggestions for further research 165
References 169
Samenvatting 174
