To respond to the global issue of sea level rise, this thesis examines architectural adaptation strategies by focusing on a low-lying coastal community in Dartmouth Cove in Halifax, Canada. Without a comprehensive adaptation strategy, these residents, along with 75% of the properties surrounding the harbour, will be forced to abandon their homes, resulting in a massive retreat from the coast. This project explores ways to build that can accommodate the future rise in sea level and population growth but are sensitive to the natural environment. It includes designs for urban organizations and amphibious housing blocks. The findings presented in this thesis suggest that amphibious architecture could become a viable solution for coastal environments in urban areas.

Les objectifs principaux de cette thèse sont d'identifier les défis et stratégies afin de mettre en œuvre des solutions de Résilience et de Smart Water Management au niveau des politiques et sur le terrain pour une gestion efficace de l'eau. Au cours de la prochaine décennie, plus de 4 milliard de personnes dans le monde vivront dans des zones de pénurie d'eau, et plus des deux tiers de la population mondiale seront confrontés à des conditions de stress hydrique. Cette pénurie d'eau future nécessite une action immédiate sur le développement des ressources, la réduction de la demande et une plus grande efficacité dans le traitement et la transmission. En outre, la gestion future des risques d'inondation nécessite des mesures immédiates dans les domaines de l'évaluation des risques, des systèmes de défense et d'atténuation, des systèmes de prévision et d'alerte, et des mesures institutionnelles et de gouvernance. Avec les impacts du changement climatique, les événements extrêmes seront plus fréquents et sévères. En conséquence, il est nécessaire d'adopter des stratégies alternatives plutôt qu’une approche traditionnelle « prédire et prévenir », qui se concentre principalement sur la réduction de la probabilité d'apparition de perturbations; ce type d'approche a souvent conduit à une construction extensive de digues de protection, à des protections contre les inondations et à d'autres solutions structurelles le long des rivières et des plaines inondables, créant un faux sentiment de sécurité qui augmente la vulnérabilité aux conséquences d'éventuelles inondations. La première moitié de la thèse explore diverses applications des stratégies de résilience aux inondations et les solutions disponibles qui sont et qui peuvent être mises en œuvre pour atténuer les impacts des inondations. L'efficacité des solutions de résilience aux inondations est également examinée, grâce à des simulations hydrologiques hydrauliques d'une étude de cas réelle en Corée du Sud. À partir de cette analyse, des conseils et des stratégies sont développées : la gestion intelligente de l'eau s’avère être un outil permettant la mise en œuvre de solutions de résilience aux inondations, et offrant d’importantes synergies avec les concepts de résilience aux inondations. La seconde moitié de la thèse explore le concept de Smart Water Management et examine les technologies nécessaires à sa mise en œuvre, ainsi que les défis et limites de ces technologies. Des études de cas sur des projets réussis de mise en œuvre de gestion intelligente de l’eau sont étudiées et utilisées pour valider l'orientation et les plans d'action pour la mise en œuvre de gestion intelligente de l’eau. De plus, un cadre de mise en œuvre du système d’eau intelligent pour une ville urbaine est proposé, comprenant le système de demande en eau et le système d'approvisionnement en eau, ainsi qu'un indicateur de détection de fuites pour le système d'approvisionnement en eau. Enfin, on examine l'importance des connexions intelligentes entre les différents domaines d'une ville intelligente avec le système d'eau intelligent et comment ces connexions se produisent dans le système d'eau intelligent. / The key aims of this thesis are to identify the challenges and strategies for implementing Flood Resilience and Smart Water Management (SWM) solutions at both the policy and field level to for efficient water management. In the next decade, more than 4 billion people worldwide will be living in areas of water scarcity and more than two thirds of the world’s population will face water-stressed conditions. This future water shortage requires immediate action on development of resources, reduction of demand and higher efficiency in treatment and transmission. In addition, future flood risk management requires immediate action in risk assessment, defence and alleviation systems, forecasting and warning systems and institutional and governance measures. And with the climate change impacts, extreme events will be more frequent and severe. As a result, there is a necessity to adopt alternative strategies rather than the traditional predict-and-prevent approach which mainly focuses on reducing the probability of occurrence of disturbances; where this type of approach often led to an extensive construction of protection dykes, flood defences and other structural solutions along river channels and floodplains, creating a false sense of safety, which increases the vulnerability to the consequences of possible floods. The first half of the thesis explores the various applications of flood resilience strategies and the available solutions that are and can be implemented to mitigate flood impacts. It also examines the effectiveness of flood resilience solutions through hydrological hydraulic simulations of a real case study in South Korea. From the analysis, recommendations and strategies are developed where it is found that Smart Water Management is an enabler for the implementation for Flood Resilience solutions and has great synergy with Flood Resilience concepts. The second half of the thesis explores the concept of Smart Water Management and discusses the technologies required for the implementation and their challenges and limitations. Successful case studies of smart water solution implementations are investigated and used to validate the direction and action plans for the implementation of smart water solutions. In addition, a framework for the implementation of Smart Water System for an urban city, which includes the water demand system and water supply system, as well as a leakage detection indicator for water supply system are proposed. Finally, it discusses the importance of smart city connections between the different domains of a smart city with the smart water system and how these connections occur within the smart water system.

This project presents a resilient mixed-use residential design in Anacostia Park, fronting the Anacostia River: With climate change projections indicating a potential sea level rise of up to 5.25 feet by 2100, addressing flood hazards is critical. The design employs three primary adaptation methods: alleviation, embracing water, and elevation techniques. Alleviation involves integrating functional spaces, such as recreational areas and green spaces, that absorb and manage water runoff. Embracing water focuses on fostering community engagement and emotional resilience by designing spaces where residents can experience different scenarios pre-flood and post-flood. Elevation techniques include the use of permeable surfaces, green gardens to control runoff, and raised structures to prevent water from entering the building. The building features a two-story commercial base and nine stories of residential units, totaling 225 units. The first story includes retail stores, while the second story houses a food club, a food court, and a health club. The residential units above offer diverse living spaces to accommodate various needs. This design aims to enhance the quality of life for residents and contribute to the sustainability of the Anacostia Park community. It serves as a model for future developments in flood-prone areas, demonstrating innovative solutions to environmental challenges. / Master of Architecture / This project introduces a resilient mixed-use residential building located in Anacostia Park, right by the Anacostia River. With climate change causing sea levels to rise, potentially up to 5.25 feet by the year 2100, it's crucial to address flood risks. Our design uses three main strategies: alleviation, embracing water, and elevation techniques. Alleviation means creating spaces like parks and gardens that can absorb and manage water. Embracing water foct where people can interact with water and prepare different flood scenarios. Elevation techniques involve using mat help control water runoff and prevent flooding inside the building. The building has two floors of commercial spaces, including shops, a food club, a food court, and a health club. Above these, there are nine floors of residential units, totaling 225 apartments. These homes are designed to meet variety of needs and preferences. Our goal is to improve the quality of life for residents and support the sustainability of the Anacostia Park community. This project serves as a model for future buildings in flood-prone areas, showcasing innovative solutions to environmental challenges.

Inondations qui se produisent dans les zones urbaines sont régies par une fréquence accrue. Structures de protection contre les inondations existantes démontrent ses inconvénients. Une des solutions est émouvant de culture du risque et de trouver l'équilibre entre la forme de l'utilisation des terres et de l'urbanisation grâce à des stratégies d'adaptation, d'atténuation, de prévention et intervention et de rétablissement. La nouvelle approche globale est basée sur le concept de résilience donner une nouvelle place pour le développement et la mise en œuvre de nouvelles approches en vertu de gestion des risques d'inondation (FRM) cadres existants. Ajout de résilience à la gestion des risques d'inondation est une première étape. Grâce à une gestion des risques d'inondation opérationnelle a pour la résilience des prestations. L'indice résilience Flood (FRI) est développé dans cette thèse est une approche unique pour l'évaluation de la résistance aux inondations dans les systèmes urbains avec la priorité principale de la structure du système lorsque l'évaluation se fait sur les micro et méso échelle et sur la dimension du système lorsque la résistance aux inondations est évaluée sur macro échelle. La réflexion est mise sur le développement de la méthode par l'évaluation de la gestion des risques d'inondation existants (FRM) cadres. Grâce à l'évaluation, il est possible de constater le niveau d'intégration et de mise en œuvre de l'élément essentiel du risque d'inondation. La méthode développée pour l'évaluation de la résistance aux inondations est potentiellement applicable à tout système urbain à une échelle géographique. / Floods that happen in urban areas are governed by increased frequency. Existing flood defence structures demonstrate its downsides. One of the solutions is moving to risk culture and finding the balance between the shape of land use and urbanization through adaptation, mitigation, prevention, and response and recovery strategies. The new holistic approach is based on resilience concept give a place for new development and implementation of new approaches under existing flood risk management (FRM) frameworks. Adding resilience to flood risk management is a first step. The Flood Resilience Index (FRI) is developed in this thesis is a unique approach for evaluation of flood resilience in urban systems with the main priority on system structure when evaluation is done on micro and meso scale and on system dimension when flood resilience is evaluated on macro scale. The main reflection is on the development of method by evaluation of existing flood risk management (FRM) frameworks. Through evaluation, there is a possibility to notice the level of integration and implementation of crucial element of flood risk. The developed method for evaluation of flood resilience is potentially applicable to any urban system of any geographic scale. Connections and dependences between main city elements and natural hazards (in this case urban flooding process) are defined. With its implementation, social, economical, political and cultural relations between cities will be more visible and better established and flood risk management well implemented.

Durch die Umsetzung gezielter Maßnahmen der objektspezifischen Bauvorsorge lassen sich überflutungsinduzierte Schäden sowohl an bestehenden als auch an neu zu errichtenden Gebäuden in teils erheblichem Umfang mindern. Der vorliegende Ergebnisbericht des Forschungs- und Entwicklungsvorhabens „Bautechnische Überflutungsvorsorge für Wohngebäude und kleingewerblich genutzte Gebäude“ verdichtet das Wissen über wirksame Handlungsoptionen der Bauvorsorge und unterstützt somit die Praxis bei der Planung robuster Konstruktionen gegenüber Überflutung. Als zentrales Ergebnis des Projekts fungiert ein Bauteilkatalog, der im Sinne einer Beispiel-sammlung typische Ausführungsvarianten von Außenwand- sowie von Decken- und Fußbodenkonstruktionen enthält, die bei Überflutungsereignissen häufig betroffen sind. Für mehrere baupraktisch relevante Bauteilvarianten empfiehlt der Katalog konkrete Maßnahmen, welche zur wirksamen Minderung der Schadensanfälligkeit bei Überflutungsbeanspruchungen beitragen. Der Bauteilkatalog ermöglicht den direkten Vergleich der Schadensanfälligkeit zwischen der „unangepassten“ Ausgangskonstruktion und der „angepassten“ Zielkonstruktion. Die Beurteilung der Schadensanfälligkeit basiert hierbei auf insgesamt acht Kriterien, die das Verhalten der Bauteile bei Überflutungsbeanspruchungen charakterisieren. Der Bauteilkatalog enthält die zeichnerische Darstellung aller Beispielkonstruktionen, um die empfohlenen Veränderungen in den Schichtenfolgen sichtbar zu machen. / It is evident, that the implementation of flood resilient measures on building scale provide a considerable potential to reduce flood damage to both existing and new buildings. The report of the research and development project 'Constructional flood protection for residential build-ings and small commercial buildings' condenses the knowledge of effective options for enhancing flood resilience and thus supports practice in the planning of robust constructions against flooding. The central result of the project is a compendium of building constructions, which contains typical design variants of exterior wall, ceiling and floor constructions that are often affected by flood events. The compendium recommends specific measures for building constructions that contribute to the effective reduction of their physical flood vulnerability. The compendium enables a direct comparison of the flood vulnerability between the 'unadapted' initial construction and the 'adapted' target construction. The flood vulnerability assessment bases on a total of eight criteria that characterize the behaviour of the components in the event of flooding. The compendium contains the graphic representation of all sample constructions to visualise the recommended changes in the layer sequences.

Selon le World Risk Report publié par United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security, les Philippines occupent la troisième place mondiale pour l’exposition aux risques naturels. L’impact de ses inondations sur la santé publique des communautés en fonction de leur vulnérabilité sociale a été très peu étudié jusqu’à présent faute de données systématiques. La méthodologie est basée sur une évaluation de la connaissance, de l’attitude et des pratiques (KAP) des populations inondées et de leur résilience vis à vis de leur exposition à des pathogènes tels que E.coli, Leptospirosis and la dengue qui peuvent se développer à la suite d’un typhon. Ces indicateurs intègrent le profil socio-démographique, les conditions de logement, l'environnement physique ainsi que la gouvernance locale. Une investigation de terrain a été effectuée dans la ville de Dumaguete, Philippines, de mars 2013 à juillet 2013. Un total de 357 familles réparties dans 12 communautés ont été interrogés. L’analyse de ces données a permis de révéler une vulnérabilité synthétisée dans un indice (IVF) qui s’établit en moyenne à 39,34 %. Le secteur de Barangay Tabuc-tubig présente un indice de 53,39 % et s’avère le site le plus vulnérable. L’indice de vulnérabilité est basé sur 5 composants: hydroclimatique, social, économique, socio-comportementale et politico-administratif. Les résultats démontrent que l'indice de vulnérabilité reste faible malgré des indicateurs d’exposition élevée. Cette recherche, l'indice de vulnérabilité est lié aux variables intervenant dans la caractérisation de la résilience. / According to the World Risk Report released by the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security, the Philippines is ranked third globally in terms of disaster risk. Public health risks and understanding social vulnerability are usually overlooked and very little attention is given. Thus, this research work focuses on. This research was an exploratory step and a rapid assessment of the Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAP) of the community people towards flood vulnerability and resilience and their exposure to microorganisms such as E.coli, Leptospirosis and the Dengue Fever mosquito. Appropriate community-based indicators were formulated and developed. Their socio-demographic profile, housing conditions, physical environment and governance were also included. The survey was done from March 2013 to July 2013 to capture the dry and wet season for bacterial sampling. A total of 357 household respondents from the 12 communities and 30 respondents from the LGU and NGO were surveyed. Results of the study revealed an overall Flood Vulnerability Index (FVI) of 39.34%. Barangay Tabuc-tubig (53.39%) topping from all the 12 communities surveyed using the newly developed 36 community-based flood vulnerability indicators with its corresponding 5 major components namely; hydro-climatic, social, economic, socio-behavioral and the politico-administrative. It is interesting to note that FVI remains low in spite that the exposure indicators are high. The low FVI can be attributed to the community’s high resilience in its coping and adaptation strategies. In this research work, the FVI is significantly sensitive to susceptibility and flood resilience variables.

Urbanization coupled with the lack of space has led to soil sealing and encroachment upon stream corridors in many cities the world over. This has caused not just the degradation of the riparian ecosystem, but has also increased the frequency and intensity of flash flooding. India is one of the countries worst affected by urban floods. To manage flood risk, especially in the case of rain-fed urban streams, not just the government but also the public needs to be engaged in the management of the stream corridor. In this context of flood risk management, the resilience concept is increasingly being applied. It revisits some fundamental notions conventionally associated with viewing and managing floods, beginning by acknowledging that floods are natural and unavoidable, and resilience, not stability is the desirable quality. This research aims to study how governance attributes like public participation can enhance flood resilience. To this end, relevant literature on resilience and governance has been studied followed by a study of the events surrounding the flooding of the Ramnadi stream corridor in Pune city through policy analysis, data derived from documents and maps, and through semi-structured interviews with stakeholders like locals, experts, activists and civic authorities. Categorization and meaning interpretation of relevant data has enabled an analysis of the governance structure for the Ramnadi corridor using a causal loop diagram. The nodes, linkages and feedback loops in this diagram have been studied to understand how public participation affects resilience characteristics. Findings of this investigation along with draft recommendations for specific actors were presented to stakeholders in a validation workshop. Implications of the results on the theories of flood resilience, governance and public participation have been examined which has enabled their analytic generalization. General policy recommendations have been based on this. Subsequently, recommendations which promote systems approach based public participation and systems thinking in the governance of social-ecological systems have been made.:Table of Contents i List of figures iv List of tables vi Abbreviations vi Definitions vii 1 Introduction: Urban Floods, Urban Causes 1 1.1 Urban flood risk in India 3 1.2 Flooding in urban stream corridors 5 1.3 Rationale and aims of the research 8 1.4 Structure of the document 9 2 Theoretical and Conceptual Framework 13 2.1 Flood risk management 15 2.1.1 Towards a systems approach 16 2.2 Social-ecological systems 17 2.2.1 The stream corridor as a social-ecological system 17 2.3 Resilience 22 2.3.1 From ecological resilience to social-ecological resilience 23 2.3.2 Characteristics of resilience 24 2.4 Resilience in the light of other prevalent concepts for flood risk management 29 2.5 Flood Resilience 30 2.5.1 Flood resistance vs flood resilience 31 2.6 Governance 32 2.6.1 Resilience building attributes of governance 33 2.6.2 The Resilience characteristics vs. Governance attributes matrix 36 2.6.3 Special focus: Public participation 37 2.7 Research Questions 44 2.8 Conclusions from the theoretical and conceptual study 45 3 Research design and methods 47 3.1 Overall research design 48 3.1.1 The case study approach 51 3.1.2 Sampling of the case study 54 3.1.3 Boundaries of the case study 56 3.2 Data collection methods 57 3.2.1 Why interviews? 57 3.2.2 Interviewing techniques 58 3.3 Data analysis 61 3.3.1 Coding and Categorization 63 3.3.2 Meaning interpretation: 64 3.3.3 Causal loop diagram 65 3.3.4 Validation of the results and recommendations 66 3.4 Concluding remarks on the adopted research design and methods 67 4 The Ramnadi corridor: A Social-Ecological System 69 4.1 Ramnadi in context 70 4.2 A journey along the Ramnadi 75 4.2.1 Section 1: Ramnadi at the source 77 4.2.2 Section 2: Ramnadi in Bhukum 79 4.2.3 Section 3: Ramnadi between Bhukum and Pune Municipal Corporation limits 84 4.2.4 Section 4: Ramnadi in Bavdhan 87 4.2.5 Section 5: Ramnadi between the Pashan Lake and its confluence with the Mula River 91 4.3 Conclusion after the Ramnadi corridor reconnaissance 93 5 Changes in flood governance and observations from the case study 95 5.1 The history of local governance in India 96 5.2 Institutional framework for urban flood management in India 97 5.3 Flood governance and participation in the stream corridors of PunePune 98 5.3.1 The Ramnadi 98 5.3.2 The Devnadi 103 5.4 Remarks on the changes in flood governance seen in the case study 105 6 Understanding the causal links between governance attributes and flood resilience 107 6.1 The need for a Causal Loop Diagram 108 6.2 Causal Loop Diagram 109 6.2.1 Use of Causal Loop Diagram in this Thesis 109 6.2.2 The importance of identifying archetypes 111 6.2.3 Explanation of the causal loop diagram of governance of the Ramnadi corridor 113 6.2.4 Understanding the implications of change in the governance structure between 2010 and 2016 on flood resilience 141 6.3 The importance of public participation for flood resilience 142 6.3.1 Public participation promotes self-organization 142 6.3.2 Public participation increases the adaptive capacity through promotion of learning 142 6.3.3 Public participation increases robustness 143 6.3.4 Public participation increases redundancy 143 6.3.5 Public participation can increase resilience by boosting other governance attributes 143 6.3.6 Some emerging ideas on complex systems and their implications for public participation 145 6.4 Benefits of systems thinking and of the causal loop diagram for public participation 147 6.5 Conclusions from the causal loop diagram based study 149 7 Towards flood resilience through public participation 151 7.1 Continuous public participation and event-based public participation 153 7.1.1 The need for continuous public participation 154 7.1.2 Disadvantages of continuous public participation 158 7.2 Institutional recommendations for continuous public participation 158 7.2.1 Municipal Corporations and other urban local development bodies 158 7.2.2 Schools: 164 7.2.3 NGOs: 166 7.2.4 Ward Councils: 167 7.3 Conclusion 169 8 Epilogue: Discussion and Avenues for Further Research 171 8.1 Answering the research questions in the course of this research 172 8.2 Key lessons 173 8.3 Theoretical contribution to governance, public participation and resilience 174 8.3.1 Interplay between governance attributes 174 8.3.2 A new paradigm for classification of public participation 175 8.3.3 Systems approach for social-ecological resilience 175 8.4 Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 176 8.5 Limitations of the research 176 8.6 Avenues for further research 177 9 References 179 10 Appendices 193

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka huruvida skapandet av en resilient stad bidrar till en jämn och rättvis utveckling. Med detta som utgångspunkt undersöker vi hur vårt studieobjekt, Höganäs Kommun, arbetar och planerar för att bli översvämningsresilienta, samt vilka åtgärder som kan implementeras för att främja en jämn resilient utveckling. Genom att vi analyserar referensprojekten, som ligger i framkant i arbetet med resilient utveckling, Cloudburst Management Plan Copenhagen och Amsterdam Rainproof har vi kunnat identifiera mönster och dra slutsatser kring vilka åtgärder som kan implementeras för att generera en jämn utveckling. Vi har tillämpat en tolkningsansats för att analysera tidigare studier och empiriskt material. Analysen består av en tematisk analys där vi identifierar mönster och skapar teman som vi studerar i djupare detalj. Utifrån ovanstående fann studien att resilienta städer förknippas med invånare av högre status. Därför har vi identifierat förslag som kan generera en jämn resilient utveckling där alla kan vara motståndskraftiga även under framtidens klimatutmaningar. / The purpose of this study is to analyze whether the making of resilient cities contributes to an even and fair development. With this as a starting point, we examine how our case study, Höganäs Municipality works and plans toward flood-resilience, and  what changes can be implemented to contribute to the making of a socially equal  flood-resilient city. By analyzing the reference projects that are advanced in the subject of creating a resilient city, Cloudburst Management Plan Copenhagen and Amsterdam Rainproof, we have been able to identify patterns and draw conclusions about what changes can be implemented to generate an even development. We applied an interpretive approach to analyze past studies and empirical material. The analysis consists of a thematic analysis, where we identify patterns and create themes which we study in deeper detail. Based on our findings, we have shown that resilient cities are associated with residents of higher status and we have made proposals that can contribute towards socially equal resilient developments in which everyone can be resilient even during the future climate challenges.

Le besoin d’agir face aux inondations n’a jamais été aussi pressant. Le Québec a connu dernièrement des épisodes exceptionnels qui rendent à l’évidence la vulnérabilité des communautés face aux inondations, notamment d’un point de vue des infrastructures. Il est temps de réaliser un virage vers des innovations de l’aménagement qui seront davantage inclusives de l’eau. Dans cet esprit, les infrastructures vertes et bleues pourraient offrir une solution complémentaire aux infrastructures plus traditionnelles, étant plus respectueuses de l’environnement ainsi que des personnes, caractérisées par une flexibilité qui vient compenser l’incertitude climatique présentement vécue. Ce mémoire de recherche vise à étudier et cadrer le concept d’infrastructures vertes et bleues afin de proposer un scénario adapté au contexte québécois. L’exercice a permis de proposer des interventions théoriques à deux échelles complémentaires, misant sur les réalisations des acteurs de l’eau ainsi que du laboratoire de recherche dans lequel ce mémoire prend place. / The need to act in the face of floods has never been more crucial. Quebec has recently experienced exceptional episodes that highlight the vulnerability of communities to flooding, particularly from an infrastructure point of view. It is time to shift towards planning innovations that will be more inclusive of water as a resource. In this spirit, green and blue infrastructures could offer a complementary solution to more traditional interventions, being more respectful of the environment as well as people and characterized by a flexibility that can potentially compensate for the climatic uncertainty currently experienced. This thesis aims to study and adapt de concept of green and blue infrastructure to the province of Quebec, by developing a project proposal. This exercise yielded the proposal of theoretical scenarios at two complementary scales, building off local and regional interventions as well as some of the work realized by the research group in which this project takes place.

The escalating impact of climate change has become a significant global concern, particularly in urban environments through the risk of flooding, due to intensified precipitation patterns. Nature Based Solu-tions (NBS), offer effective strategies for mitigating flood risks by enhancing stormwater management and promoting urban resilience. Multicriteria Analysis (MCA) has shown to be useful for identifying suitable areas for NBS, however, there is limited research on its application specifically for urban flood resilience in Sweden. Therefore, this study aims to develop a GIS-based suitability mapping framework within MCA method for allocating suitable areas for two NBS measures: Retention Pond (RP) and Detention Basin (DB), applying it to a case study in Sweden. The study employs a mixed-method approach and consists of (1) framework develop-ment through a literature review, geospatial data assessment, and key-informant interviews, and (2) application of the framework to a case study area in Sweden. In the case study area, the resulting suitability map indicates that 7.5 % of DBs and 7% of RPs met all criteria. Key-informant interviews with local experts provided valuable insights, particularly the exclusion of hazardous zones as well as emphasizing the importance of considering not only biophysical characteristics, but also socio-cultural factors. In conclusion, this study contributes to the body of knowledge on NBS suitability mapping. The findings offer guidance to climate strategists and urban planners on a municipal level, selecting optimal locations for NBS strategies for urban flood resilience and stormwater management.