Flood impacts on road accessibility and buildings in Gothenburg during a 100-year rainfall event
(2026) In Master Thesis in Geographical Information Science GISM01 20261Dept of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (MGeo)
- Abstract
- Urban areas are increasingly exposed to extreme precipitation events, which can disrupt critical infrastructure and damage the built environment. While flood impacts are often assessed separately for buildings or road networks, this study analyses both flood-induced road inaccessibility and building flood risk in Gothenburg using a climate-adjusted 100-year rainfall at both the city scale and the local scale. A network-based service area approach was used to identify inaccessible areas, while building flood risk was assessed using a risk classification matrix based on two factors: exposure ratio and maximum flood depth. The results show that road inaccessibility is most severe in peripheral areas with low network redundancy where limited... (More)
- Urban areas are increasingly exposed to extreme precipitation events, which can disrupt critical infrastructure and damage the built environment. While flood impacts are often assessed separately for buildings or road networks, this study analyses both flood-induced road inaccessibility and building flood risk in Gothenburg using a climate-adjusted 100-year rainfall at both the city scale and the local scale. A network-based service area approach was used to identify inaccessible areas, while building flood risk was assessed using a risk classification matrix based on two factors: exposure ratio and maximum flood depth. The results show that road inaccessibility is most severe in peripheral areas with low network redundancy where limited alternative routes can lead to extensive accessibility loss, whereas the highest building flood risk is concentrated in low-lying and industrial areas. Local-scale case studies revealed how localized flooding disrupts road networks at vulnerable road segments and generates
uneven building-level risk that is not visible at the city scale. By integrating road inaccessibility with building flood risk into a combined risk classification, the study identifies areas where flooding is likely to generate the greatest societal consequences, highlighting vulnerabilities that would not be visible from either component alone. Together, these findings demonstrate the importance of multi-scale and integrated flood risk assessments for informing urban resilience planning and guiding climate-adaptive strategies. (Less) - Popular Abstract
- Cities are increasingly exposed to extreme rainfall events, which can flood streets, damage buildings, and disrupt everyday life. While flood impacts are often studied separately for buildings or road networks, this study examines both together in Gothenburg using an extreme rainfall scenario (a 100-year rainfall event) across the whole city and in smaller local areas. The study identified which roads would become inaccessible due to flooding and assessed building risk based on how much each building is exposed to flooding and the maximum depth of water. The results show that road inaccessibility is most severe in outer parts of the city, where there are few alternative routes, meaning that flooding in one place can cut off access to large... (More)
- Cities are increasingly exposed to extreme rainfall events, which can flood streets, damage buildings, and disrupt everyday life. While flood impacts are often studied separately for buildings or road networks, this study examines both together in Gothenburg using an extreme rainfall scenario (a 100-year rainfall event) across the whole city and in smaller local areas. The study identified which roads would become inaccessible due to flooding and assessed building risk based on how much each building is exposed to flooding and the maximum depth of water. The results show that road inaccessibility is most severe in outer parts of the city, where there are few alternative routes, meaning that flooding in one place can cut off access to large areas, while the highest building risk is mainly found in low-lying and industrial areas. More detailed case studies revealed that even small-scale flooding can block key road segments and create uneven levels of risk for individual buildings – effects that are not visible when looking only at the city as a whole. By combining road inaccessibility with building risk, the study identifies the areas where flooding is likely to have the greatest impact on society, highlighting important vulnerabilities that would not be clear if each problem were studied separately. Overall, the findings show the importance of looking at flood risk at different scales and considering multiple types of impacts together to better support city planning and improve resilience to future climate-related flooding. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9225820
- author
- Daland, Sebastian LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- GISM01 20261
- year
- 2026
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- GIS, Urban Flooding, Road Inaccessibility, Building Flood Risk, 100-Year Rainfall
- publication/series
- Master Thesis in Geographical Information Science
- report number
- 209
- language
- English
- id
- 9225820
- date added to LUP
- 2026-04-29 15:43:32
- date last changed
- 2026-04-29 15:43:32
@misc{9225820,
abstract = {{Urban areas are increasingly exposed to extreme precipitation events, which can disrupt critical infrastructure and damage the built environment. While flood impacts are often assessed separately for buildings or road networks, this study analyses both flood-induced road inaccessibility and building flood risk in Gothenburg using a climate-adjusted 100-year rainfall at both the city scale and the local scale. A network-based service area approach was used to identify inaccessible areas, while building flood risk was assessed using a risk classification matrix based on two factors: exposure ratio and maximum flood depth. The results show that road inaccessibility is most severe in peripheral areas with low network redundancy where limited alternative routes can lead to extensive accessibility loss, whereas the highest building flood risk is concentrated in low-lying and industrial areas. Local-scale case studies revealed how localized flooding disrupts road networks at vulnerable road segments and generates
uneven building-level risk that is not visible at the city scale. By integrating road inaccessibility with building flood risk into a combined risk classification, the study identifies areas where flooding is likely to generate the greatest societal consequences, highlighting vulnerabilities that would not be visible from either component alone. Together, these findings demonstrate the importance of multi-scale and integrated flood risk assessments for informing urban resilience planning and guiding climate-adaptive strategies.}},
author = {{Daland, Sebastian}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
series = {{Master Thesis in Geographical Information Science}},
title = {{Flood impacts on road accessibility and buildings in Gothenburg during a 100-year rainfall event}},
year = {{2026}},
}