Seoul, Republic of Korea

Developed as the capital of the Yi Dynasty in the late fourteenth century, Seoul’s long-term rainfall measurements show substantial high interannual precipitation variability with significant increases in summer precipitation intensity in the last 30 years. As one of the fastest growing cities worldwide in the latter half of the twentieth century, intensive land development, mostly converted from rice paddies or wetlands, has resulted in chronic flooding in low-lying areas along the Han River and its tributaries. To reduce flood risks, the city government has heavily relied on technological solutions such as levees, water pumping stations, and underground storage. Thanks to these structural measures, riverine flooding has been somewhat reduced in recent decades. However, localized intense rainfall with a changing climate has resulted in urban flooding in many developed city areas. One promising aspect of Seoul’s flood risk management is that, with active citizen participation thanks to a high education rate, the city now appears to have embraced more social and ecological dimensions by restoring streams, installing green infrastructure, and social education, which will become increasingly more important for comprehensive, equitable, and just flood risk management.