The Impacts of Land Use Changes in Urban Hydrology, Runoff and Flooding: A Review

Abstract

The issue of Land Use (LU) change has received considerable critical attention because it is one of the most significant factors caused by human activities worldwide. Recent critical changes in this direction have affected urban hydrology. LU change affects water resources and hydrological characteristics such as runoff and urban flooding. The development of LU causes a rapid increase in impermeable surfaces, increasing the flooding rate. LU also plays a vital role in extending water drainage, groundwater intrusion, and flooding during and after rainfall. This paper aims to investigate LU change impacts on runoff and urban flooding. This review focused on most articles, conference papers, and book chapters published in SCOPUS, including Google Scholar. The study was limitation to the last published from 2017-2021 and also extended some published theories for different years published. In addition, in the short and long term, the development of LU affects the environment, and most factors are involved at a catchment level. However, there is a strong relationship between human activities at the catchment level and runoff. The study concluded that LU strongly influences topography and the landscape in arid, semi-arid, and humid zones. This is why runoff and water distribution happen in urban areas. Furthermore, this study found that built-up area is a critical factor that increases urban flood risk, especially in lowlands along floodplains. It is common for the frequency of floods to become more severe due to a rapid increase in impervious surfaces brought on by urbanisation, increasing runoff. The review concludes that runoff affects by catchment size and its condition. Finally, humans can be reduced runoff and flood risk with a sensibility strategy.