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Urban managed realignment: application to the Thames Estuary, London

Urban managed realignment: application to the Thames Estuary, London
Urban managed realignment: application to the Thames Estuary, London
Over the centuries, London has progressively encroached into the tidal Thames River as it has developed into a “World City”. This encroachment has exacerbated the flood risk to new and adjacent land, despite continual upgrading of flood defences. The pressure for further encroachment remains, despite the new threat of human-induced climate change—that is, the combined effect of (1) increased peak river flow in the winter, (2) more intense precipitation events, (3) accelerated sea-level rise, and possibly (4) more severe storms and resulting storm surges. Costly upgrade of defences is inevitable to manage the increased flood risk, and this has caused a re-evaluation of the Thames Estuary's flood defence program. For the first time, managed realignment in urban areas is being considered as a flood management tool. This offers a range of potential benefits including (1) increasing storage for floodwater, (2) improving ecological functioning, (3) improving riverside access for people, and (4) reversing the long-term trend of encroachment into the river. Planned managed realignment can widen the scope for future defence upgrade, but has been limited in urbanised areas. Several projects in London (e.g., Tate Modern and Millennium Dome) have shown that realignment can achieve the benefits described above, which supports the government's recent “Making Space for Water” policy.
This study investigates the feasibility of managed realignment in the Thames Estuary. Fragmentation between flood defence and spatial development policies, lack of political support, and riverside encroachment continue to delay urban realignment projects. Successful application will require long-term planning (over decades) that exploits all opportunities for landward realignment offered by redevelopment. With the uncertainties behind climate change and more development in the “Thames Gateway”, further research is needed to understand the contribution of urban realignment to any flood management strategy that may be applied to other coastal urban areas.
urban flood management, thames estuary, flood defence, flood risk, riverside encroachment, habitat conservation, sustainability, london
0749-0208
1525-1534
Sherwin, C.W.
97214b59-f047-4681-81fc-3c8854fd8a07
Nicholls, Robert J.
4ce1e355-cc5d-4702-8124-820932c57076
Sherwin, C.W.
97214b59-f047-4681-81fc-3c8854fd8a07
Nicholls, Robert J.
4ce1e355-cc5d-4702-8124-820932c57076

Sherwin, C.W. and Nicholls, Robert J. (2007) Urban managed realignment: application to the Thames Estuary, London. Journal of Coastal Research, 23 (6), 1525-1534. (doi:10.2112/05-0586.1).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Over the centuries, London has progressively encroached into the tidal Thames River as it has developed into a “World City”. This encroachment has exacerbated the flood risk to new and adjacent land, despite continual upgrading of flood defences. The pressure for further encroachment remains, despite the new threat of human-induced climate change—that is, the combined effect of (1) increased peak river flow in the winter, (2) more intense precipitation events, (3) accelerated sea-level rise, and possibly (4) more severe storms and resulting storm surges. Costly upgrade of defences is inevitable to manage the increased flood risk, and this has caused a re-evaluation of the Thames Estuary's flood defence program. For the first time, managed realignment in urban areas is being considered as a flood management tool. This offers a range of potential benefits including (1) increasing storage for floodwater, (2) improving ecological functioning, (3) improving riverside access for people, and (4) reversing the long-term trend of encroachment into the river. Planned managed realignment can widen the scope for future defence upgrade, but has been limited in urbanised areas. Several projects in London (e.g., Tate Modern and Millennium Dome) have shown that realignment can achieve the benefits described above, which supports the government's recent “Making Space for Water” policy.
This study investigates the feasibility of managed realignment in the Thames Estuary. Fragmentation between flood defence and spatial development policies, lack of political support, and riverside encroachment continue to delay urban realignment projects. Successful application will require long-term planning (over decades) that exploits all opportunities for landward realignment offered by redevelopment. With the uncertainties behind climate change and more development in the “Thames Gateway”, further research is needed to understand the contribution of urban realignment to any flood management strategy that may be applied to other coastal urban areas.

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More information

Published date: November 2007
Keywords: urban flood management, thames estuary, flood defence, flood risk, riverside encroachment, habitat conservation, sustainability, london

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 52826
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/52826
ISSN: 0749-0208
PURE UUID: dee55ca5-a1f9-455c-b94d-7c730695503d
ORCID for Robert J. Nicholls: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-9715-1109

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 14 Jul 2008
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 03:36

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Author: C.W. Sherwin

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