Building Resilience to Landslides

Extreme storms and flash flooding associated with climate change have led to fatal landslide events in Western Germany and Belgium. Landslides primarily occur when heavy rains destabilize soil on steep slopes, causing them to crumble. Over the past week, swollen rivers overflowed into floodplains as a result of rapidly melting snow in the European hills and mountains. Landscape architects and planners must intervene with complex systems to help mitigate the risks in landslide-prone settlements.

Deforestation in landslide-prone areas and the primary effects of climate change such as volatile precipitation consequently increase risks of fatalities and material damage. Such incidents highlight the importance of hazard mapping and warning systems, stabilized foundations of houses, micro-farming, and forestation to stabilize slopes around infrastructure. The nature of soil selection is also of essence since certain soils resist forces that catalyse landslides better than others; the incorporation of geotextiles can also help improve its function to anchor the soil. Other techniques to improve land use in landslide-prone areas include conservation plantation, grass plantation, on-farm conservation, agro-forestry, surface and sub-surface drainage management, and runoff harvesting ponds or dams in the catchment.

Vegetative engineering efforts, forestation with hardwood species and other plants aid in withstanding landslide scours, and have the added benefit of generating habitats for wildlife. Bio-engineering methods for slope stabilization such as terracing also helps in convert slopes into a series of horizontal steps with the aim of controlling flow of surface runoff, reducing soil erosion and by creating flat lands suitable for cultivation. A similar technique is to be employed in the Metropolitan Green Project in Medellin, Colombia- where landscape parcels are implemented in the terraced areas.

Engineering in landslide-prone regions emphasize the importance of working with nature, understanding the contours of the place, vegetation and root systems—which in turn help stabilize soil and prevent erosion. This helps make the space both habitable and secure for communities and settlements.

Works Cited:

Resilient Design: Landslides | asla.org

Shifting ground: Landslide risk mitigation through community-based landscape interventions: Journal of Landscape Architecture: Vol 10, No 1 (tandfonline.com)