Flexibility in adaptation planning – Guidelines for when, where and how to embed and value flexibility for urban flood resilience

Preface

This guideline provides the ingredients for embedding and valuing flexibility in adaptive planning. In contemporary adaptation planning in the urban flood risk management sector, the valuation of flexibility is about determining the expected net present value of the adaptation measures based on standardised techniques such as real options. There is little information about how flexibility can be enhanced and how to determine the most appropriate place for incorporating flexibility within a scheme plan. Hence this guideline for  embedding and valuing flexibility has drawn on knowledge from the manufacturing sector (such as automobile and aerospace industries),  where flexible adaption planning is everyday practice. The selection of the water sensitive urban design (WSUD) element where flexibility is embedded is made focused on the change propagated in the urban system when the WSUD element is subject to change.

These guidelines include an Appendix where the steps detailed in the guidelines are applied in an Australian case study to help understand application.

Note: This guideline was produced as a technical/milestone report for the project.

Citation

Radhakrishnan et al. (2016). Flexibility in adaptation planning. Guidelines for when, where & how to embed and value flexibility in an  urban flood resilience context, Melbourne, Australia: Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities