Contribution of public squares to the reduction of urban flooding risk

Abstract Urbanization is directly linked to the process of impermeabilization of the soil in urban areas that contributes to the emergence of flood risks. The purpose of this study was to determine the hydrodynamic properties of the public squares in a flood-prone Brazilian city and determine to what extent they could contribute to the reduction of flooding. The Beerkan method was used to determine the hydrodynamic properties of the soil in nine squares located at critical flooding points in the city of Recife. This method uses simple ring infiltration and the collection of soil samples to obtain the soil granulometric distribution, thereby generating the soil water retention curve θ(h) and the hydraulic conductivity K(θ). The squares studied have similar hydrodynamic characteristics because of their similar soil texture classes, such as Loamy Sand and Sandy Loam. This made it possible for eight of the nine squares studied to be able to contribute positively to the reduction of flood risks by adapting them into micro infiltration basins that can receive the surface flows that overload the drainage network.