Felix Julian Othmer

This article presents the testing of the principle of risk-based planning using the example of the city of Erftstadt, Germany, which was affected by the devastating flood of 2021. The basis of this article was a simulated land use plan approval procedure for a flood-prone site in the urban district of Erftstadt-Liblar. In the contributions, the contents of the environmental report relating to effects to be expected for disasters as well as designations of a risk-based flood-proofed land use plan are presented. As a result of the gaming simulation, the hazard zone plan proves to be a suitable instrument for operationalizing the consideration of flood prevention in risk-prone areas. The simulation also provides evidence that it is possible to implement a risk-based approach within the current legal planning framework in Germany that is laid down by the Federal Building Code (BauGB). Innovative elements are the considerations of the protection worthiness of different types of infrastructures by spatially and contextually differentiated designations. The hazard zone concept, as such, and the findings of the gaming simulation will be used by the state planning authority for an amendment of the regional plan of North-Rhine Westphalia and will therefore be mandatory for the land use planning of all municipalities.