Assessing resilience of the Nile Delta urban centers to sea level rise impacts.

Abstract :

The Nile Delta in Egypt is considered to be one of the most vulnerable areas to climate change and associated sea level rise globally. Nile Delta coastal cities, with a high concentration of population, economic activities, infrastructure and services, are hotspots to such exposure. This paper assesses the resilience of cities in the Nile Delta coastal area to sea level rise impacts, focusing on inundation as one of the most significant physical impacts. The paper considers these cities within their hinterland context, rather than in isolation. To assess the resilience of the Nile Delta’s urban centers to sea level rise impacts, a composite resilience index is proposed. By integrating multiple physical and socioeconomic factors that determine urban resilience, this index highlights variations in resilience between the various urban centers. The varied levels of resilience demonstrated between urban centers in the Nile Delta are related to different levels of physical vulnerability and varied socioeconomic conditions.