A Network Theoretic Approach to Understand the Structure of Urban Drainage Networks

Urban drainage networks (UDNs) are critical for flood prevention but face challenges. Innovative management strategies are necessary for resilience. Graph Theory (GT) efficiently analyses UDNs, aiding infrastructure design. This study employs GT and hydraulic simulation to assess UDN performance and resilience. It introduces the UDNBC centrality metric, assesses robustness under failure scenarios, and proposes a resilience indicator. Results show GT's effectiveness in identifying robust configurations and improving UDN design. This research offers valuable insights into UDN design, particularly during the planning phase. Engineers can leverage this to select more reliable and resilient UDN structures, improving performance and reducing flood risk.