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Improving Climate Resilience of Critical Asset: Asset-Level Modelling to Achieve A Better Understanding of Climate-Related Impacts

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sustainability and Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2026) | Viewed by 5819

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Beniamino Russo

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Guest Editor

Flumen Research Institute, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya—BarcelonaTech (UPC), Campus Nord, 08034 Barcelona, Spain
Interests: urban drainage systems; flood risk management; sustainable urban drainage systems (SuDS); climate change adaptation; hydraulic and hydrological modelling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Eduardo Martínez-Gomariz

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Guest Editor

Barcelona School of Civil Engineering—ETSECCPB, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya-BarcelonaTech (UPC), C. Jordi Girona, 1-3, 08034 Barcelona, Spain
Interests: urban flood risk management; water supply and asset management
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Dr. Rita Salgado Brito

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Guest Editor

Environmental and Hydraulics Department, Urban Water Unit, LNEC—Portuguese National Laboratory of Civil Engineering, Av. do Brasil, 101, 1700-066 Lisboa, Portugal
Interests: water monitoring; urban water; nature based solutions; condition assessment; performance assessment; asset management; climate resilience
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

According to the United Nations, climate hazard-related disasters have risen significantly, with over 7000 incidents between 2000 and 2019. These events impacted 4 billion people and caused nearly $3 trillion in losses. This surge is primarily due to extreme weather events. If global temperatures continue to rise and net-zero targets aren’t met by 2050, 10% of the world’s economic value may be lost.

In this framework, the central purpose of this Special Issue is to present a range of research from Horizon Europe ICARIA project (Improving Climate Resilience of Critical Asset) (https://www.icaria-project.eu/) promoting the use of asset-level hazard and risk models to better understand climate-related impacts and the potential reduction provided by sustainable and cost-effective adaptation solutions.

Papers of this SI should focus on the results of cutting-edge assessment methods implemented in the 3 ICARIA case studies (Barcelona Metropolitan Area, South Aegean Archipelago and Salzburg Region), all facing severe climate challenges.

Presentation of comprehensive climate risk assessments considering complex events including compound events and cascading effects are specially encouraged to ensure scientific novelty and state of the art contributions.

Prof. Dr. Beniamino Russo
Dr. Eduardo Martínez-Gomariz
Dr. Rita Salgado Brito
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Publisher’s Notice

As stated above, the central purpose of this Special Issue is to present research from Horizon Europe ICARIA project (Improving Climate Resilience of Critical Asset). Given this purpose, the Guest Editors’ contribution to this Special Issue may be greater than standard Special Issues published by MDPI. Further details on MDPI's Special Issue guidelines can be found here: https://www.mdpi.com/special_issues_guidelines. The Editorial Office and Editor-in-Chief of Sustainability has approved this and MDPI’s standard manuscript editorial processing procedure (https://www.mdpi.com/editorial_process) will be applied to all submissions. As per our standard procedure, Guest Editors are excluded from participating in the editorial process for their submission and/or for submissions from persons with whom a potential conflict of interest may exist. More details on MDPI’s Conflict of Interest policy for reviewers and editors can be found here: https://www.mdpi.com/ethics#_bookmark22.

Keywords

climate resilience
asset modelling
critical infrastructures
compound events
multi-risk
cascading effects

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

27 pages, 22509 KB

Open AccessArticle

Socio-Economic Impacts of Pluvial Floods in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona in a Climate Change Context

by Àlex de la Cruz-Coronas, Beniamino Russo, Sofia Pacho-Gómez and Daniel Yubero-Peña

Sustainability 2026, 18(9), 4530; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18094530 - 4 May 2026

Viewed by 890

Abstract

Pluvial floods can cause severe socio-economic impacts on coastal urban areas like the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona. This study combined the development of high-resolution flood maps, based on a large-scale coupled 1D/2D model and empirical functions, to quantify direct economic damage to buildings and determine risk to pedestrians and vehicles. Importantly, the flood model included a network of 36 municipalities and covered 636 km². Three scenarios were considered: single-hazard (extreme precipitation), multi-hazard (coincident extreme precipitation and storm surge), and adaptation (implementation of resilience measures). In total, 20 rain events were applied for each scenario: 5 were historic design storms, while 15 considered the effect of climate change (60 simulations in total). By the end of the century, results show potential increases in expected annual damage of up to 36%, from €139.8 M to €190.3 M. Risk for pedestrians could increase by 25% (494 ha to 620 ha) and for vehicles by 26% (59 km to 75 km) in the T10 single-hazard scenario. In the multi-hazard case, the socio-economic impacts are approximately 5% higher, while the adaptation simulations considering sustainable urban drainage systems show reductions between 6 and 18%. The metropolitan results were compared and validated with a previous assessment done in the City of Barcelona. Based on these results, urban planners, emergency responders, and public administrations can develop effective adaptation measures based on cost–benefit analyses for current and future climate scenarios. Compared to previous studies, this approach adapts existing urban-scale methodologies to regional-scale flood risk assessment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Improving Climate Resilience of Critical Asset: Asset-Level Modelling to Achieve A Better Understanding of Climate-Related Impacts)

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24 pages, 9383 KB

Open AccessArticle

Flood Impact on Electricity Assets—The Cases of Barcelona Metropolitan Area

by Pol Paradell Solà, Núria Cantó and Àlex de la Cruz Coronas

Sustainability 2026, 18(9), 4268; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18094268 - 24 Apr 2026

Viewed by 812

Abstract

The electrical system is a crucial infrastructure of modern society. It provides the energy needed for society to continue its development. However, this critical infrastructure is increasingly threatened by the extreme weather events driven by the escalating climate crisis, posing significant challenges to sustainable development and energy security. Therefore, it is important to conduct comprehensive risk analyses of the electrical system to prepare for future challenges. This paper presents an electrical risk assessment conducted within the European project ICARIA, aiming to evaluate the effects of global climate change on critical infrastructure resilience. The study improves on the first risk assessment conducted, evaluating the electrical system’s vulnerability to flooding events, such as heavy rains or rising sea levels, in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona. A key contribution to this research is the integration of direct impact assessments and cascading effect analyses, which identify how localised failures in electrical assets can spread throughout the system, potentially leading to a blackout. The research focuses on modelling various flood projections, using extreme weather scenarios and return periods ranging from 1 to 100 years. These projections are employed to evaluate the risk assessment methodology and quantify potential impacts on the electrical grid, including Expected Annual Damage (EAD) and Energy Not Supplied Cost (ENSC). The results aim to provide policymakers and grid operators with valuable insights, enabling the development of data-driven adaptation strategies and climate-resilient infrastructure planning to mitigate the risks posed by extreme weather events. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Improving Climate Resilience of Critical Asset: Asset-Level Modelling to Achieve A Better Understanding of Climate-Related Impacts)

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19 pages, 2234 KB

Open AccessArticle

The Hidden Costs of Recurring Drought: Climate Change and Economic Losses in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area

by Sergio Baraibar Molina, Helena Torres Alvaro and Jaume Freire-González

Sustainability 2026, 18(9), 4266; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18094266 - 24 Apr 2026

Viewed by 711

Abstract

Mediterranean water systems face intensifying drought pressure under climate change, yet the long-term macroeconomic consequences of recurrent water restrictions remain largely unquantified at the metropolitan scale. This study estimates the cumulative economic costs of drought-induced water restrictions in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB) over 2016–2099 using a supply-driven Input–Output (Ghosh) model driven by six hydro-climatic projections. Drought conditions persist in more than half of all simulated months across all climate projections, generating substantial cumulative undiscounted losses of €52–61 billion through repeated restriction episodes rather than isolated extreme events. The present value of total GDP losses ranges between €8.4 and €41.4 billion depending on the discount rate applied (1%, 3% and 5%). Losses concentrate in service sectors due to strong intersectoral propagation effects, despite agriculture exhibiting the highest direct water dependence. The framework provides a transferable approach for assessing long-term climate-driven drought costs in metropolitan urban or regional economies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Improving Climate Resilience of Critical Asset: Asset-Level Modelling to Achieve A Better Understanding of Climate-Related Impacts)

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20 pages, 16996 KB

Open AccessArticle

Preliminary Pluvial Flood Hazard Assessment for Underground Access Stairs in Barcelona Metropolitan Area Metro Stations

by Àlex de la Cruz-Coronas, Carlos H. Aparicio Uribe, Jackson Téllez-Alvarez, Eduardo Martínez-Gomariz, Joan Granés-Puig and Beniamino Russo

Sustainability 2026, 18(6), 3144; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18063144 - 23 Mar 2026

Viewed by 497

Abstract

Urban underground infrastructures are highly vulnerable to intense rainfall events, particularly access stairs, where preferential runoff paths and the most probable evacuation routes can conflict. This study presents a pluvial flood hazard assessment for underground access stairs in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area Metro network. It integrates the EU ICARIA project modeling framework and the hazard assessment criteria based on hydraulic parameters identified by the Spanish national research project FAVOUR. Both current and future climate change rainfall scenarios are considered. The results showed that out of 415 underground access points, 27 face a high risk of floods, while 35 more have potentially high-risk conditions. These figures could rise to 38 (40% increase) and 47 (74% increase) respectively by the end of the century since climate change is projected to increase rainfall intensity and frequency. By quantifying hazard levels across the network, this study allows the identification of points of the infrastructure where hazard conditions can be more critical. Furthermore, the results presented could potentially support targeted adaptation strategies such as entrance retrofitting, improved drainage design, and emergency planning to develop resilient and sustainable cities. The proposed methodology demonstrates how ICARIA’s modeling framework can effectively evaluate and anticipate flood hazards in complex urban environments at the asset level. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Improving Climate Resilience of Critical Asset: Asset-Level Modelling to Achieve A Better Understanding of Climate-Related Impacts)

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20 pages, 6820 KB

Open AccessArticle

Climate Change Effects on Flood Risk at Wastewater Treatment Plants: A Facility-Scale Assessment

by Guillem Flor Tey, Eduardo Martínez-Gomariz, Beniamino Russo and Joaquín Bosque Royo

Sustainability 2026, 18(6), 3074; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18063074 - 20 Mar 2026

Viewed by 402

Abstract

Climate change is expected to modify precipitation patterns and increase flood hazard in urban areas, potentially affecting critical infrastructures such as wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), often located in flood-prone zones. This study assesses the impacts of climate-driven changes in extreme rainfall on flood hazard, pedestrian safety, and tangible physical damage at WWTPs in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona, Spain. Twenty-four future flood scenarios are defined using CMIP6-based downscaled climate projections (SSP126 and SSP585), two time horizons (2041–2070 and 2071–2100), and different climate model percentiles. Climate Change Coefficients derived from updated Intensity–Duration–Frequency curves are applied to hydrodynamic simulations to evaluate flooded and high-hazard areas for plant workers, as well as direct economic damage at the Montcada i Reixac WWTP, used as a case study. Results indicate limited changes under SSP126, while SSP585 leads to systematic increases in hazard extent and damage, particularly for long-term projections (2071–2100) and extreme percentiles (90th). A large dispersion among climate models is also observed, especially for extraordinary flood events. Finally, a site-specific nature-based adaptation measure targeting frequent floods is proposed, demonstrating the potential of integrated assessments to support sustainable adaptation planning and to reduce the Expected Annual Damage in future climate conditions by 93%. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Improving Climate Resilience of Critical Asset: Asset-Level Modelling to Achieve A Better Understanding of Climate-Related Impacts)

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23 pages, 2127 KB

Open AccessArticle

Climate Resilience Assessment in Regions, Cities, Strategic Services, and Critical Infrastructure: Implementation and Outcomes

by Rita Salgado Brito, Maria Adriana Cardoso, Ana Mendes, Anabela Oliveira, Alex de la Cruz-Coronas, Marianne Bügelmayer-Blaschek and Elena Veza

Sustainability 2026, 18(3), 1701; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18031701 - 6 Feb 2026

Viewed by 578

Abstract

Resilience to climate change is a complex concept, especially in metropolitan areas where diverse services and stakeholders interact. Promoting sustainable climate adaptation, a resilience assessment method focused on regional areas and nature-based solutions is presented, along with its open-access, web-based platform, supporting resilience assessment, planning, and monitoring. Floods, droughts, heat or cold waves, windstorms, and forest fires can be assessed. A framework for holistic assessment and other framework, addressing critical infrastructure, are integrated. Four resilience dimensions are assessed: organizational (governance, social aspects, finance); spatial (exposure, impacts, and mapping); functional (service management, interdependencies); and physical (infrastructure robustness, redundancy). Strategic services comprise, e.g., water, waste, and natural areas. Resilience capacities, e.g., to prevent, respond, and recover from disruptions, are also assessed. The paper emphasizes new developments and assessment. Practical step-by-step guidance aligned with assessment purposes is included, aiming to address observed limitations (e.g., fragmented service provision, communication silos, data constraints). Overall results of a Spanish metropolitan area (AMB) and an exploratory application to an Austrian rural case (SLR) are also presented. Following the guidelines, AMB progressed from an essential to a comprehensive assessment. Overall, almost 1/3 of the metrics are advanced or progressing. SLR assessed its resilience capabilities regarding electrical infrastructure. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Improving Climate Resilience of Critical Asset: Asset-Level Modelling to Achieve A Better Understanding of Climate-Related Impacts)

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