Urban Planning for Flood Risk Reduction: An Applied Study of the City of Derna

Urban flooding has become one of the most significant challenges facing cities due to climate change and unplanned urban expansion, highlighting the need to integrate disaster risk reduction into urban planning policies. The catastrophic impacts of Storm Daniel on the city of Derna, Libya, in September 2023 exposed critical deficiencies in land-use planning, infrastructure performance, and disaster risk management.

This study aims to evaluate the role of urban planning in reducing flood risk in Derna by integrating spatial analysis using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) with the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), based on spatial data and a field survey involving 200 participants. The findings revealed that urban expansion along Wadi
Derna and the inadequate performance of stormwater drainage systems were among the main factors contributing to the severity of the disaster. The AHP analysis identified early       

 and emergency preparedness systems as the highest-priority planning intervention, followed by the rehabilitation of the wadi and bridges, and land-use planning measures.

The study concludes that integrating spatial analysis with multi-criteria decision-making provides a practical framework for supporting post-disaster reconstruction, enhancing the effectiveness of urban planning, and reducing flood risk in Derna and other cities with similar geographical and environmental characteristics.