Integrating Natural Hazards into the Planning and Design of Critical Infrastructures in Urban Coastal Areas. A Case Study in Le Havre, France

Critical infrastructures (CIs) have a priority role for society, the interruption or partial operation of such infrastructures can compromise the functioning of the entire city, limiting the safety and well-being of the population. In recent years, the increasing number of natural hazards, combined with the growing intensity of such phenomena, have led to long interruptions and malfunctions of CIs. These infrastructures are also interdependent and, therefore, the failure of one can cause domino effects on others.

In coastal areas, CIs are subject to multiple natural hazards such as flooding, landslides, or storm surge; among them the maritime transport system represents a fundamental element of global and local economies, around 90% of international trade in goods are carried out by sea. Ports are therefore strategic nodes of this complex network; their operability must be guaranteed to not compromise the entire logistics chain.

Keeping ports operational means ensuring their functional resilience also during critical climate events. To support decision-makers in planning and design, innovative models need to be developed in order to read city-port systems as complex systems and to integrate natural hazards within the projects.

The contribution proposes an approach to analyze the dependencies and the interdependencies between and within the city-port systems, also in relation to other CIs (such as the energy system, road transport system or railway transport system). This approach can help decision-makers to plan measures, design uses and spaces, taking into account natural hazards considering long terms climate scenarios.

The city of Le Havre, in France, will be examined as case study. A special focus will be made on the coastal areas where is located the Grand Port Maritime du Havre (GPMH), the first port in France and one of the most important ports in Europe. As indicated in the PPRL (Plans de Prévention des Risques Littoraux), the GPMH will be, in fact, at risk due to the sea level rise scenarios by 2100, so it will be necessary to implement disaster risk prevention, preparedness and reduction measures, or even relocation of infrastructures.