RiskScape Case Studies: Informing Land-Use Planning Through Natural Hazard and Climate-Change Risk Modelling

Abstract

Due to ongoing natural hazard risks and climate change here in Aotearoa, residential/urban housing, commercial, industrial and primary production land require scalable processes and frameworks to support effective and efficient decision making that is robust and replicable. Tools that can be used to manage these challenges and avoid mal-adaption are needed. This report demonstrates ways in which RiskScape, an open-source spatial data processing application used for multi-hazard risk analysis, can be used to produce evidence-based risk assessments incorporating different land-use planning directions, hazard mitigation and adaption strategies and risk acceptance/tolerance thresholds.

The focus of this study was on the Auckland region and includes four case studies to highlight the capability of RiskScape. These case studies included:

• Greenfield development with multiple hazards
• Policy interventions (protect, avoid, reduce, and accept) within an urban flood risk area
• Climate-change interventions and scenarios, as well as land-use intensification settings and adaptation options, in a coastal setting
• A component of a Dynamic Adaptive Policy Pathway (DAPP) approach for a coastal settlement

Whilst content for these cases has been developed in collaboration with Auckland Council to provide applied and relevant examples, the outputs do not represent or consist of direction or recommendation for Auckland Council to implement, nor do they represent possible changes to policy settings, such as level of tolerable risk being considered by Auckland Council.

These cases were selected as they are replicable and relevant across Aotearoa New Zealand and demonstrate the ways in which RiskScape can be used to support consultation, cost-benefit analysis, adaption options and ultimately decision-making.  

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