Urban Resilience to Natural Hazards in Aotearoa New Zealand: Flooding and Beyond

The development of cities in Aotearoa New Zealand is characterised by a history of natural hazards, where the impacts are exacerbated by climate change. We examine the sociospatial dimensions of disaster risk, response, and preparedness to help inform more resilient urban centres, drawing on international best practices and the increasing applications of emerging digital technologies.

^{Credit: Andrew Burgess, Flooding data from the Auckland Council Open Data, last updated 2025, Base map data from Land Information New Zealand Auckland 1m Lidar 2024, Land Information New Zealand Building Outlines, Land Information New Zealand Road Centrelines.}

Related publications

• Stacy Vallis, Imelda Piri, Andrew Burgess, Priscila Besen, Ann Morrison. Connecting perceived flood risk and resilience in Auckland, New Zealand, 09 September 2025, PREPRINT (Version 1) available at Research Square [https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7547469/v1]
• Vallis, S., Piri, I., Besen, P., Morrison, A., Burgess, A., “Moving towns: 4 stories of communities facing relocation show the complex realities of managed retreat”  The Conversation, https://theconversation.com/moving-towns-4-stories-of-communities-facing-relocation-show-the-complex-realities-of-managed-retreat-254693; Republished by United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, https://www.preventionweb.net/news/moving-towns-4-stories-communities-facing-relocation-show-complex-realities-managed-retreat
• 2023. VALLIS, S., KARVONEN, A., ERIKSSON, E., ‘Pandemics and the built environment: A human-building interaction typology’ Buildings & Cities 4(1), p.158–173.DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/bc.280
• 2022. SCHEEPMAKER, L., AAL, T., KENDER, K., VALLIS S., AAL, K., SMITH, N., MELENHORST, M., VAN TWIST, A., VEENSTRA, M., SCHULER, D., MULLER, C., WULF, V., WEIBERT, A., 2022. Ethical Future Environments: Engaging refugees in Smart City participation. In Adjunct Proceedings of the 2022 Nordic Human-Computer Interaction Conference (NordiCHI '22). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 13, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1145/3547522.3547704
  Keywords: SDG11 Sustainable Cities and Communities; Retrofit; Adaptation; Sustainable Smart Cities; Participatory Design; Inclusive Digitalisation

Documentation, Retrofit, Adaptation of Historic Buildings and Sites

• 2025. NAPOLITANO, R., RIGGIO, M., CURMI, A., FERREIRA, T., PECCHIOLI, L., FERRERO, C., VALLIS, S., CHEN, X., DONG, Q., GIARDINA, G., BOSTENARU DAN, M. “Preserving the Past, Protecting the Future: A Framework for Sustainable Climate Adaptation of Heritage Structures” International Journal of Architectural Heritage https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15583058.2025.2587223
• 2025. BROWN, D., and VALLIS, S., “Prefabricated Promises: The Te Pahi House” in The Routledge Companion to Art and Challenges to Empire https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Companion-to-Art-and-Challenges-to-Empire/Burns-Rudy-Price/p/book/9781032913353
  Keywords: SDG11 Sustainable Cities and Communities; Adaptation; Heritage; Retrofit; Culture-based Climate Action

Mainstream Media

• 2026. VALLIS, S., PATEL, D.M., MARKS, S., “Conserving memory and culture through virtual reality design” ArchitectureNow, https://architecturenow.co.nz/articles/conserving-memory-and-culture-through-virtual-reality-design/#object-credits