Development of flood prone areas in Wielkopolska region

Abstract

The aim of the study was to analyse the state of flood-prone areas development in 10 towns on the Warta River in the Wielkopolska region in terms of the possibility of adapting existing and planned buildings to flood risks. A significant percentage of the areas exposed to floods was the basic criterion for selecting three towns for the second stage of the research. The analysis of the content of 22 local spatial development plans (LSDP) in three selected towns has revealed that the plans for special flood hazard areas (SFH) and embanked areas lack precise requirements for flood adaptation. The research proved that small riverside towns in Wielkopolska region insufficiently use planning tools to create appealing and resilient waterfronts and reduce their vulnerability. New buildings not adapted to changing water levels are still being built in the flood-prone areas, because LSPD plans do not impose such requirements. The authors proposed the graphical analysis method (based on overlay maps), which allows to indicate the areas requiring special flood-adaptation guidelines. The building and site recommendations in LSDP should refer to BFE level and may include various types of amphibious architecture and their location conditions, which has been identified in the study.