Flexibility in Adaptation Planning: When, Where and How to Include Flexibility for Increasing Urban Flood Resilience

221 Pages·2018·4.03 MB·English

by  Mohanasundar Radhakrishnan

FLEXIBILITY IN ADAPTATION PLANNING: WHEN, WHERE AND HOW
TO INCLUDE FLEXIBILITY FOR INCREASING URBAN FLOOD
RESILIENCE
Cover Photo: © Athena Naeimi – Photo of a Lilly pond in Xam Tai Town, Loas
FLEXIBILITY IN ADAPTATION PLANNING: WHEN, WHERE AND HOW
TO INCLUDE FLEXIBILITY FOR INCREASING URBAN FLOOD
RESILIENCE

DISSERTATION

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of
the Board for Doctorates of Delft University of Technology
and
of the Academic Board of the UNESCO-IHE
Institute for Water Education
for
the Degree of DOCTOR
to be defended in public on
Wednesday, 22nd November 2017, at 10:00 hours
in Delft, the Netherlands

by

Mohanasundar RADHAKRISHNAN
Master of Science in Water Supply Engineering UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education
born in Palayamkottai, India
This dissertation has been approved by the
promotor: Prof. dr. C. Zevenbergen
copromotor: Dr. A. Pathirana

Composition of the doctoral committee:
Chairman Rector Magnificus TU Delft
Vice-Chairman Rector UNESCO- IHE
Prof. dr. C. Zevenbergen UNESCO- IHE / TU Delft, promotor
Dr. A Pathirana IHE Delft, copromotor

Independent members:
Prof. dr. T.J.M. Spit Universiteit Utrecht
Prof. dr. ir. M. Kok TU Delft
Prof. dr. R. Ranashinge UNESCO- IHE / TU Twente
Prof. dr. Srikantha Herath, United Nations University, Tokyo
Prof. dr. ir. W.A.H. Thissen TU Delft, reserve member
Prof. Richard Ashley and Dr. Berry Gersonius from UNESCO- IHE, as the Project leader and Project Manager respectively
of CRCWSC Project B 4.2, have contributed significantly to the development of this dissertation. This research was funded
by Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities (CRCWSC), which is a part of the Australian Commonwealth
Government’s Cooperative research centre (CRC) programme.

This research was conducted under the auspices of the Graduate School for Socio-Economic and Natura Sciences of the
Environment (SENSE)

CRC Press/Balkema is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2017, Mohanasundar Radhakrishnan
Although all care is taken to ensure integrity and the quality of this publication and the information herein, no
responsibility is assumed by the publishers, the author nor UNESCO-IHE for any damage to the property or persons as a
result of operation or use of this publication and/or the information contained herein.
A pdf version of this work will be made available as Open Access via http://repository.tudelft.nl/ihe This version is
licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License,
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Published by:
CRC Press/Balkema
Schipholweg 107C, 2316XC, Leiden, The Netherlands
[email protected]
www.crcpress.com – www.taylorandfrancis.com
ISBN 978-0-8153-5729-2
This thesis is dedicated to my guardian angels in heaven

Gunapakkiam, my grandmother

And

Raman sir, my Engineering guru

Acknowledgements
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Verse 110 Tirukural (Thiruvalluar 31 BC)

Forgetting to do good and you may find salvation yet
But forget gratitude you’re headed for destruction’s net
Translation by Gandhi (2015)

I am overwhelmed with the support and wishes of so many nice and kind people throughout
my life. At the outset I thank the people and the Commonwealth Government of Australia for
supporting my research through the Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities
project (CRCWSC). I thank Dr. S.D. Badri Nath and Dr. A. Panner Selvam for their guidance
and support in encouraging me to pursue research. I thank my friend Kathiravan Jeyakumar
for the Tamil translation and Mr. Geor Hintzen for the Dutch translation of the summary. I
also remember with thank the continuous support of Mr. Naga Sreenivas and
Dr.Mohanavadivu for their inputs since the proposal stage of this research. I thank Prof.
Arthur Mynett – the Saturday morning chats - and Prof. Rosh Ranasinghe for their words of
encouragement throughout the thesis period. I thank Jolanda, Anique, Tonneke and Martine
for the wonderful administrative support through my stay at IHE. My ultimate Alpha team of
“Mike Ones” at GIZ – especially, Esakki, Ramesh Ji, Jiten, Vibhor, Venu – shared their
invaluable day to day knowledge and difficulties on urban adaptation.
Dr. Tushith Islam contributed not only to the development of context specific adaptation
grammar but also introduced me to the diverse concepts of adaptation practices in Software,
Automobile and Aerospace industries. I fondly remember the support that I received from the
Briony Rogers and Christian Urich in the Elwood research group. Roland Lowe and Prof.
Karsten Arnjberg Neilsen were very patient, supportive, hosted me in Copenhagen and
treated me as their own team member during the development of the Elster creek urban
drainage model. Roland and Christian deserve a special mention for dragging me into the
sea and making me surf in Australia.
I also thank my fellow FRG buddies Kim, Flora, Ngyen, Marilou, William, Jeron, Carlos and
Polpot for sharing their knowledge and help. “Mr. Q” alias Nguyen Hong Quan has been my
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motivation and a solid companion in broadening my vision on climate adaptation and to
venture into climate adaptation practices in Vietnam.
I am grateful for all the difficult and the almost annoying questions of Dr. Berry Gersonius,
my daily supervisor, without which I would have ended up with a big confusing story instead
of a thesis. Thanks for asking me the difficult questions, sounding me about the current
trends, training me in finding mistakes and also for packing me off to Melbourne for six weeks
with a weeks’ notice.
Prof. Dr. Chris Zevenbergen, my promotor, has always been my mind reader.
Notwithstanding my confusing, uncoherent explanations and writings, Chris saw the crux of
matter behind it and polished the papers, making me wonder “Dude, how did you do this!!!!”.
Chris prophesised rightly after my proposal defence that my thesis would be completely
different from what I proposed to do. Thank you Chris for the constant encouragement.
Prof. Richard Ashely, Godfather of this thesis on whose feet I submit it, was always available
on email and Skype and guided me throughout these four years. I was always looking forward
to the weekly skype meetings and the comments on my work. The comments were direct,
reflective and with satirical sense of humour. I and my housemates – Tom and Mathew - used
to jump like kids, who receive the weekly edition of comics by post, and gather around the
screen when his comments arrive. Chris knew where I was going from the beginning but
Richard, you were the one guiding and encouraging me all along, asking me not be afraid, to
take all the crazy, interesting detours. A thank you is not enough Richard.
Dr. Assela Pathirana, my co-promotor, is the man behind this thesis. I almost gave up the
idea of doing PhD nearly five years ago due to my love and passion for working with Doctors
without Borders in emergency situations. It was the unrelenting pursuit of Assela to secure
funding for my research which changed my mind. Most importantly Assela gave me the
freedom to chase the crazy ideas I had. Also he had immense trust in me, which played a
crucial role in motivating me to complete this research. I owe this PhD to you Assela.
I would be cursed without coffee in my afterlife if I forget to mention Maged, Damon, Daphne,
and the lovely team at Café Zondag, from where I wrote this entire thesis. Thank you fellows
for the bottomless cups of flat whites, hummus sandwiches and Tajine served with lots of
love.
Rev. Walraut and Fr. Avin, my spiritual gurus at Delft, always motivated me to keep going
whenever I was on an emotional roller coaster. I thank and remember with gratitude my
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friends from (i) ISC community especially Mathew, Tom, Punki & Senot, Claudia & Gijs,
Claudia & Pavel, Ashish, Arun, Joana, Catarina (Big Cat), Etienne, Mariana & Francesco,
Consta & Mithun, Carmen, Ella and Janet; (ii) IHE especially Mamaii Chris, Eva, Tita Marilou,
Nadya, Victor, Feranda, Paulo Corgosinho, Sachin & Keerthi, Mohammed & Bahour, Vero,
Zara, Pedi, Joesph, Nirajan & Anitha, Noor, Nguyen and Alex; and (iii) all over Netherlands
Frederik & Ericka; Assela, Chandini Akka & Kids; Rangarajan Sir & Rani Amma and all other
friends. Thank you all so much for being my family at Delft. Dank u wel.
I also thank the next generation of kids: my lovely little niece Manojna (Ingu pullai)  and all
my lovely little playmates in Delft – Manu, Angila, Benta, Jochem, Katarina, Nicolas, Kora,
Sofia, Zara, Ali, Sania – for instilling hope and responsibility in me towards making this world
a better place for them.
Also thank you Rajesh Bava for madly following a dream and being a living example for
perseverance, determination and courage. I thank my lovely friend Athena and her family,
hailing from Normandy in France, for having adopted me as one of their own, showering their
love and kindness in all these years. Be it far or near, my friends Kavin, Kirubar, Gowri,
Vignes, Esakki Raj, Rakesh, Raja Guru, Murgesan, their families and my aunt Palayamkottai
Atthai (Dr.Maragathavalli) have always been my source of strength and refuge.
It is my parent’s discipline, blessings and sacrifices that forms the bed rock of my success. I
thank Amma and Appa for making me who I am. What will I do without my lovely sister Selvi
and an understanding brother in-law Govidasamy? It was their constant support,
understanding and shouldering my responsibilities made my research life smooth sailing.
Thank you all    .

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Verse 110 Tirukural (Thiruvalluar 31 BC)

A helpful act howsoever slight
When timely, acquires true height
Translation by Gandhi (2015)