Urban vulnerability to the risk of flooding in the Annaba metropolitan region

Abstract

Water can be a boon as well as be scarce or cause floods. Indeed, floods account for more than 80 per cent of natural disasters recorded in the world between 1996 and 2006, causing damage (human, economic, etc.) on the one hand and changing the image of the city on the other hand. In a developing country such as Algeria, which has been confronted with a ‘crisis of the past, a crisis of the present and a crisis of the future’, it is difficult to see how this situation can be resolved. The aim of this study is therefore to warn of potential future risks, particularly floods, through an in-depth analysis of the vulnerability of natural risks in urban areas in Algeria — in particular the Annaba metropolitan region. The rate of urbanisation of flood-prone areas remains high in the greater Annaba area. The State’s new orthodoxy is largely based on reducing the vulnerability of goods and people to flood risk, which should not be systematically synonymous with the unbuildability or freezing of territories subject to risk. The challenge is to control the urbanisation of the most exposed areas, while allowing the urban and economic renewal of already urbanised or least exposed areas.