Investigating Flood-Driven Nexus Interlinkages: Insights into Strengthening Urban Resilience in Changing Climate Conditions

Floods, as one of the most frequent and disruptive natural hazards, are becoming increasingly severe under the pressures of climate change, rapid urbanization, and altered land-use patterns. Beyond their immediate physical damage, floods initiate complex and often underexplored chains of interdependencies across key urban systems, intensifying systemic vulnerabilities. This study employes a multidimensional assessment framework – Water Energy-Food-Health-Transport-Ecosystem-Land Use-Soil-ICT (WEF+ Nexus) framework to analyze how floods trigger systemic vulnerabilities through short-, mid-, and long-term interlinkages, thereby reducing urban resilience. Drawing on five major European flood events selected based on severity criteria from the EM-DAT disaster database (Serbia, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Croatia in 2014, Slovenia in 2023, Germany in 2021, Poland in 2001, and the UK in 2007), the analysis highlights how different types of flooding (riverine, flash, coastal, and pluvial) generate immediate and delayed disruptions. Nexus trees and interlinkage matrices were constructed to visualize and quantify cascading effects across critical sectors. Common interlinkages include disruptions in electricity and water supply, impacts on food production and transport, ecosystem degradation, public health threats, and land-use dislocations. The findings emphasize that these impacts are rarely isolated, but rather, they interact in feedback loops that can exacerbate long-term recovery challenges. To address this, the study proposes a three-tiered set of recommendations – strategic, tactical, and operational. Operational, short-term actions involve practical, on-the-ground responses, such as rapid drainage system clearance or deploying mobile ICT units for emergency communication. Tactical, mid-term solutions suggest adaptive planning approaches, including mobile supply logistics and modular transport networks. Strategic, long-term interventions include green infrastructure deployment, flood-adapted land-use planning, and Nature-based Solutions (NbS). This work contributes to urban disaster risk reduction and Nexus governance by offering a structured methodology to identify and mitigate cascading impacts of floods. The findings support the integration of WEF+ Nexus thinking into resilience strategies, planning policies, and early-warning frameworks across European cities.