How do people who live near so-called dike relocation areas perceive flood protection? Researchers from the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research (UFZ) and the University of Potsdam investigated this question. They surveyed over 300 people from Saxony-Anhalt in whose towns and cities dike relocation or floodplain renaturation measures had been carried out.
Using a questionnaire, people were asked questions about their attitude towards the measures, previous floods and flood protection, among other things. "Our results show that both people who feel particularly connected to their hometown and those who feel strongly threatened by flooding tend to oppose the measures. This was particularly the case if they had already experienced flooding," says Dr. Sungju Han, author of the study and researcher at the UFZ Department of Urban and Environmental Sociology.
If people felt well informed and trusted local risk management, they were more likely to support nature-based measures. The researchers assume that people are more skeptical of nature-based measures because they cause the rivers to spread out more in terms of area during a flood and possibly get closer to the houses. "The fact that the river is now more visible can be particularly frightening for people who have been affected by floods more often - although the new measures may actually make it safer than before," says Prof. Christian Kuhlicke, Head of the Department of Urban and Environmental Sociology at the UFZ.
Source: ufz.de
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