Qin et al. (2025) Impact of impervious surface spatial morphologies on urban waterlogging: Insights from a cascade modeling chain at catchment scale

Identification

• Journal: Sustainable Cities and Society
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-10-19
• Authors: Xiaochen Qin, Yilong Wu, Haocheng Huang, Xiaoliu Yang, Lu Gao
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scs.2025.106912

Research Groups

• Institute of Geography, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350117, China
• Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
• School of Design and the Built Environment, Curtin University, Perth 6102, Australia
• School of Management, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009, China
• School of Geographical Sciences, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350117, China
• Fujian Provincial Engineering Research Center for Monitoring and Accessing Terrestrial Disasters, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350117, China
• Key Laboratory for Humid Subtropical Eco-Geographical Processes of the Ministry of Education, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350117, China

Short Summary

This study investigates how the spatial morphology of impervious surfaces influences urban waterlogging using a cascade modeling chain. It reveals distinct hydrological functions for different road morphologies and static obstruction by buildings, proposing an evidence-based intervention hierarchy that prioritizes road modifications for urban flood resilience.

Objective

• To resolve the complex hydrological functions embedded within urban form by investigating how the spatial morphology of impervious surfaces influences urban flood dynamics, moving beyond aggregated metrics to understand underlying mechanisms.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Catchment scale
• Temporal Scale: Focus on urban flood dynamics during rainfall events (no specific duration mentioned for the study itself).

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Cascade modeling chain integrating hydrodynamic simulation, explainable machine learning, and probabilistic networks.
• Data sources: Not explicitly mentioned in the provided text.

Main Results

• Road morphologies function as dynamic hydrological regulators with distinct archetypes: "islets" and "branches" amplify risk by fragmenting flow; "cores" and "edges" exhibit tradeoff-dependent performance based on topographic stability; and "bridges" synergistically leverage elevation gradients.
• Building morphologies primarily act as static obstructions, with their mitigation potential constrained by high socio-economic redevelopment costs.
• A probabilistic framework quantifies these mechanisms and establishes an evidence-based intervention hierarchy, prioritizing cost-effective road modifications over disruptive architectural redevelopment for urban flood resilience.

Contributions

• Developed a novel cascade modeling chain integrating hydrodynamic simulation, explainable machine learning, and probabilistic networks to resolve complex hydrological functions of urban form.
• Identified and characterized distinct hydrological roles of different impervious surface morphologies (roads vs. buildings, and specific road archetypes).
• Quantified the mechanisms of morphological influence on urban waterlogging and established an evidence-based intervention hierarchy.
• Reframes urban flood resilience from managing imperviousness extent to designing morphological function, advocating for a paradigm shift in urban planning.

Funding

• Not explicitly mentioned in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Qin2025Impact,
  author = {Qin, Xiaochen and Wu, Yilong and Huang, Haocheng and Yang, Xiaoliu and Gao, Lu},
  title = {Impact of impervious surface spatial morphologies on urban waterlogging: Insights from a cascade modeling chain at catchment scale},
  journal = {Sustainable Cities and Society},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1016/j.scs.2025.106912},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2025.106912}
}

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