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Irish Examiner:
Experts back tighter restrictions for building on flood-prone plains

7 January 2016

Climate change experts have backed calls for tighter planning restrictions to prevent new building on flood plains after the worst national flooding crisis in a generation. After a major study of city floods around the world, academics at University College Cork, the London School of Economics, and Oxford University found no evidence that cities, their economic hubs, or large population centres relocate after large floods. Full economic activity has usually resumed in the flood-prone zones, usually within a year, they said. The study also warned that modern cities with high population concentrations in low-lying areas face greater flood risk as sea levels rise and extreme rainfall episodes become more frequent.

This article was published online by the Irish Examiner on January 7, 2016
Link to article here

Related publications
'Flooded Cities', Adriana Kocornik-Mina, Thomas K.J. McDermott, Guy Michaels and Ferdinand Rauch, Centre for Economic Performance Discussion Paper No.1398, December 2015

Related links
Guy Michaels webpage
Ferdinand Rauch webpage
Labour Markets Programme webpage
Trade Programme webpage

Read more... Irish Examiner