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Flood management under rapid urbanisation and industrialisation in flood‐prone areas: a need for serious consideration

An increasing proportion of the world's population is living and working in flood‐prone areas. There are no indications that this tendency will change. In the rural areas we may observe improvements in agricultural production and an increase in the value of crops, farm buildings, water management facilities and infrastructure. In addition, due to urbanisation, industrialisation and improving standards of living, especially in the emerging countries, the value of property, buildings and infrastructure has significantly increased and will further increase in future. Especially in flood‐prone areas in South and East Asia we may observe a very rapid growth of urban areas. In order to cope with this growth of new urban areas reclamation has very often taken place in nearby low‐lying areas. From a flood protection and water management point of view this implies removal of storage areas and increase in urban drainage discharges. The paper presents the various developments and their consequences with respect to flood management. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.