AT
amin talei
Monash University
Melbourne, Australia
About this Research Topic
Manuscript Extension Submission Deadline 14 October 2026
Background
Urban flooding is one of the most pressing challenges facing cities worldwide, driven by rapid urbanization, land-use change, and intensifying climate variability. Conventional gray infrastructure — concrete drains, levees, and culverts — increasingly struggles to cope with more frequent and severe rainfall events, while contributing to the degradation of urban ecosystems. Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) offer a powerful alternative, working with natural processes to manage stormwater, restore hydrological balance, and strengthen urban resilience. Beyond flood risk reduction, NBS deliver a broad range of co-benefits, including biodiversity enhancement, improved air quality, and social well-being. This approach joins new environmental concerns and practices, but historical insights may also provide valuable guidance, drawing from the evolution of planning concepts, traditional water-sensitive practices, and vernacular urban forms developed in closer harmony with natural systems. As cities worldwide accelerate their adoption of NBS, this Research Topic brings together cutting-edge research on the planning, design, implementation, and performance of nature-based approaches to urban flood management.
The primary goals of this Research Topic are to:
o Showcase cutting-edge research and case studies on the planning, design, implementation, and performance of NBS in urban flood contexts;
o ·Draw lessons from historical experiences and traditional practices that may inspire contemporary nature-based flood resilience strategies;
o Advance interdisciplinary discourse by bringing together insights from engineering, hydrology, urban planning, landscape architecture, ecology, and social sciences;
o Promote resilient urban development by evaluating how nature-based strategies can contribute to climate adaptation, policy reform, and community resilience;
o Critically examine the barriers, trade-offs, and enablers for mainstreaming NBS within current flood risk governance frameworks;
o Highlight the role of emerging technologies and digital tools in supporting the planning, monitoring, and scaling of NBS.
This Research Topic invites research on — but not limited to — the following topics:
o Historical and vernacular precedents relevant to contemporary nature-based urban flood management;
o Lessons from past urban water management practices for resilient future cities.
o Comparative performance assessments of NBS versus traditional gray infrastructure;
o Urban hydrological modelling and simulation of NBS under present and future climate scenarios;
o Design and optimization of hybrid green-gray flood management systems;
o Monitoring and evaluation techniques for nature-based flood mitigation;
o Socioeconomic and ecological co-benefits of NBS;
o Policy, governance, and institutional frameworks for implementing NBS in urban flood contexts;
o Community engagement, perception, and equity considerations in NBS planning;
o Integration of digital tools (e.g., remote sensing, GIS, AI) for supporting NBS implementation;
o Nature-based flood solutions in low-income and informal urban settlements.
Article types and fees
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
- Brief Research Report
- Community Case Study
- Conceptual Analysis
- Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
- Data Report
- Editorial
- FAIR² Data
- General Commentary
- Hypothesis and Theory
Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.
Keywords: flood management, nature-based solutions, urban flood, Sustainability, Hydrological modelling
Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
