| Session Details | |
| Section | HS - Hydrological Sciences |
| Session Title | Urban Flooding and Extreme Weather in South East Asia |
| Main Convener | Prof. Ismail Abustan (Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia) |
| Co-convener(s) | Prof. Kaoru Takara (Kyoto University, Japan) Dr. Nabsiah Abdul Wahid (Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia) Prof. Mukand Singh Babel (Asia Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand, Thailand) |
| Session Description | South East Asia is one of the world’s fastest growing regions in terms of population and urban growth. While South East Asia is world’s least urbanized region, its urban population grows at unprecedented rates, 1.75 times faster than the world’s urban population. Urbanization in the region has rapidly expanded human settlements and increase human activities and economic growth. However, scientific assessment indicates that the coastlines of South East Asia are highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. On a local basis, these factors have the potential to increase the vulnerability of ecosystems and communities to climate change. Climate change coupled with urban island effect lead to localized intense high intensity and short duration rainfall that normally cause stormwater overflow and urban flooding particularly in more densely populated areas. Inadequate design capacity of drainage systems to cater excess stormwater runoff further cascaded the effect towards river or floodwall overflows. In addition, poor infrastructure designs and lack of the implementation of Best Management Practices (BMPs) worsen the urban flooding magnitude. The character of urban flooding is repetitive with systemic impacts on communities, especially for those who live within the designated floodplains or low lying areas. Although urban flooding causes less number of casualties, the consequences on economic, social and environmental aspects can be considerably huge. This is in addition to direct damages on property and infrastructure particularly highways, utilities and services. The discussion will be based on the following themes (but not limited to): 1) Urban flooding due to extreme weather and climate changes 2) Social, economic and/or environmental impacts due to urban flooding 3) Urban flooding case studies in SEA 4) Urban Best Management Practices (BMPs) in mitigation 5) Predictive capacities in urban flooding 6) Recovery and built-up processes by communities |