Sarah Crowe

Active research projects:

Water smart cities: towards a place-based approach for waterfront management and flood protection

In urban environments, waterfronts are integral to the network of blue/green spaces and encompass a range of uses with economic, social, environmental and well-being benefits. The impacts of climate change means that we will see more extremes of rainfall and threats from coastal and urban flooding. Resilience to climate change is one of the key components of change that waterfront cityscapes must address. In particular, the exposure to climate change-related extreme weather events in this multi-use space. Place-based, rather than engineering solutions, see water as an integral part of the landscape and of public spaces. Place-based solutions highlight the importance of delivering mixed use, open spaces in tandem with sustainable design and infrastructure, including innovative and integral components of climate change adaptations to flooding threats.

A key focus of my research lies in developments in flood risk management and assessment of risk using a multi-disciplinary approach, including input from engineering, geoscience, policy, urban planning and community-based approaches to resilience and well-being. The key aim of this project is to better understand how integration of place-based waterfront approaches for innovative flood protection and vulnerability risk assessments can develop ‘waterfront smart cities’, promoting better quality of life, well-being, resilience and protection against extreme climate change.