Climate change, urban vulnerability and adaptation strategies to pluvial flooding

In the study of impacts that multiple extreme events (natural and human) can produce on ecosystems, phenomena related to weather and climate changes represent a relevant, but not new, threats for human settlements, which have always faced with changing environmental and weather conditions. However, human activity of territorial alteration that took place over the centuries represents a disturbing action to the natural system, which requires new design approaches. The construction of buildings and spaces with impervious surfaces and the introduction of specific activities in urban areas have altered the natural hydrological cycle. The combination of these anthropic features with the increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme precipitation events determines substantial impacts on built environment and population. In relation to this, it is necessary to work starting from the knowledge of the vulnerability characteristics of the affected systems, in order to implement suitable strategies and measures able to enhance a system's ability to adapt to change.