An agent-based model of greening a city for reducing pluvial flooding at a cultural heritage site

We present an agent-based model which explores the impact of green- ing a city for pluvial flood risk reduction, to inform planning decisions in cities. In particular we focus on the location of an archaeological site lying 2 meters below ground level in the city centre of Ravenna, Italy, which is subject to pluvial flooding. A map of Ravenna was divided into cells which could be eligible for modelled greening if they contained a car park, a street or a pedestrianised area. The number and location of cells greened varied with each run of the model. This was combined with precipitation and temperature data from Ravenna, and subse- quently estimated scores for evapotranspiration and permeability. In general, the greater number of greening measures introduced corresponded to a reduced vol- ume of excess rainwater. There was a particular effectiveness of greened streets at reducing excess runoff compared to car parks and pedestrian areas. Our results demonstrate the usefulness of ABM in the field of disaster risk management.