Hybrid geographical narratives

: the complex hazard system and applications for sustainable futures

Abstract

The central concerns of this thesis have been to contribute to modelling science and the understanding of flood event dynamics by coupling hydrological models of inundation to agent-based ones of individual and group response, providing a perspective on the nature of micro to macro system scale interactions that generate disasters or lead to their avoidance. To support this, two bespoke modelling systems were developed to examine the dynamics of such interactions and were applied in two key case studies for the UK and Japan. This supported in the identification of drivers that describe the historical evolution of the landscape, economy, and built environment, to provide the boundary conditions for flood event dynamics through historical land use analysis, modelling, and first order conceptualisation. In doing this, the quantitative endeavours of the modelling exercises are consolidated by a demonstrated engagement with theories and concepts from beyond the traditional boundaries of geographic science that deepen the understanding of human-environment relations by promoting conversations ‘across the divides’ in human and physical geography around the core concepts of materiality, agency, emergence, and sustainability. The results here presented form a dialectic of interdisciplinarity and provide metrics that can be used to support the assessment of future sustainability in dynamic urban environments subject to naturally changing conditions.

Date of Award	1 Feb 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bristol
Supervisor	Paul D Bates (Supervisor) & Jeff Neal (Supervisor)