This community‐based research aims to enhance local‐level flood management by utilising participatory geographic information systems (PGIS) methods to capture the spatial dimensions of community member flooding concerns in Hopkins Village, Belize. We offer a mixed methodology, applying participatory sketch mapping as a way to collect local knowledge about community perceptions of flooding in this data‐scarce context. We combine this local knowledge with quantitative geostatistical hot spot analysis of basic village infrastructure characteristics to reveal insights about community perceptions of and response to flood risk. The significance of this research lies in the application of PGIS methods to create two different primary datasets, which when analysed together offer a more complete story about community understanding and needs for flood management. One set of data (more qualitative in nature) originated from sketch maps with community members and answers descriptive questions about how people spatially conceptualise hydro‐meteorological hazards within their community. The other (more quantitative in nature) is the village's first publicly accessible infrastructure dataset (including information on building structures, roads, and drainage infrastructure) digitised by our research team from high‐resolution drone imagery. Attributes for the infrastructure dataset were developed in collaboration with community members to reflect their desires for data and information suited to conduct flood vulnerability assessment. Application of thematic coding and hot spot analysis to the data reveals concerns about hazards within their community and the measures they have taken to protect themselves in the absence of resources to develop community‐wide mitigation plans. Our work offers contributions to the participatory GIS literature by providing an example of sketch mapping methods to facilitate multi‐level management of community‐level flood risk in a data‐scarce setting, and demonstrating the multiple benefits of applied participatory GIS methods as a means of overcoming data scarcity.
Many studies have examined the general public's flood risk perceptions in the aftermath of local and regional flooding. However, relatively few studies have focused on large‐scale events that affect tens of thousands of people within an urban center. Similarly, in spite of previous research on flood risks, unresolved questions persist regarding the variables that might influence perceptions of risk and vulnerability, along with management preferences. In light of the opportunities presented by these knowledge gaps, the research reported here examined public perceptions of flood risk and vulnerability, and management preferences, within the city of Calgary in the aftermath of extensive flooding in 2013. Our findings, which come from an online survey of residents, reveal that direct experience with flooding is not a differentiating factor for risk perceptions when comparing evacuees with nonevacuees who might all experience future risks. However, we do find that judgments about vulnerability—as a function of how people perceive physical distance—do differ according to one's evacuation experience. Our results also indicate that concern about climate change is an important predictor of flood risk perceptions, as is trust in government risk managers. In terms of mitigation preferences, our results reveal differences in support for large infrastructure projects based on whether respondents feel they might actually benefit from them.
more » « less- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10045569
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Risk Analysis
- Volume:
- 38
- Issue:
- 3
- ISSN:
- 0272-4332
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 548-561
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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