Mapping of the Flood Distribution in an Urban Environment: The Case of Palma (Mallorca, Spain) in the First Two Decades of the 21st Century

The City of Palma de Mallorca has been historically affected by flood events, with the latest flood of great magnitude occurring in 1962. After decades without large flooding events, since the start of the 21st century, 28 floods have been identified within the city boundaries. As change in the spat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Earth (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2021-12, Vol.2 (4), p.960-971
Main Authors: Rosselló-Geli, Joan, Grimalt-Gelabert, Miquel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
20th century
Central business districts
Cities
Creeks & streams
Environmental risk
flood hazard
Flood mapping
Flooding
Floods
Infrastructure
Rain
Runoff
spatial distribution
Urban areas
Urban environments
Urban sprawl
Urbanization
urbanization impact
Western Mediterranean
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Summary:The City of Palma de Mallorca has been historically affected by flood events, with the latest flood of great magnitude occurring in 1962. After decades without large flooding events, since the start of the 21st century, 28 floods have been identified within the city boundaries. As change in the spatial location of these events has been observed, a research to identify where the floods are located nowadays and which causes can be related to such distribution has been undertaken. Six types of floods were identified and the events classified accordingly, with the deficient planned infrastructures, flat urban areas without defined drainage and coastal sectors the three most common types. The results highlight the importance of the urban sprawl and malpractices related to flood risk areas, thus increasing the occurrence of floods of less spatial impact but with greater disturbance on the daily activity of the city inhabitants. Nevertheless, some uncertainties are identified in this research, demonstrating the need of further investigations.
ISSN:2673-4834
2673-4834
DOI:10.3390/earth2040056