Leveraging on Building Characteristics for Household Flood Adaptation

Abstract

Buildings are designed to provide passive climate adaptation and protection 
for occupants against harmful environmental conditions. Today, many 
households in sub-Saharan Africa are subjected to physical, social and 
economic losses from flood impact. As flood risk and associated impacts 
continue to grow in the built environment, there is need to evolve strategies 
to advance the resilience of these vulnerable communities. Unfortunately, 
there are limited empirical studies on buildings’ role in flood risk reduction 
in these regions. This study sought to bridge this gap in knowledge by 
examining currents levels of awareness of household flood adaptation strategies, and the influence of specific building characteristics on 
household flood adaptation. The study takes a cross-sectional research 
design approach involving data collection through a questionnaire survey 
from 47Architectural Educators in ARCON accredited Schools of 
Architecture in Lagos, Nigeria. The data were analyzed using descriptive 
and inferential statistics. Results indicate a high level of awareness of 
household flood adaptation strategies. Also, findings suggested that 
building’s floor height and drainage systems have the most influence on 
reducing flood impact to vulnerable households. The highlighted building 
characteristics can thus be leveraged on to optimize buildings’ function in 
the flood adaptation process. Recommendations are also made on the way 
forward based on the results obtained from the study.