The influencing factors and mechanisms for urban flood resilience in China: From the perspective of social-economic-natural complex ecosystem

Urban flood is one of the most frequent and deadly natural disasters in the world, seriously affecting urban sustainability and people's well-being in China. As the largest developing country in the world, China urgently needs to improve its urban flood resilience. Previous studies related to urban flood resilience are mostly focused on its assessment method and simulation. However, few studies directly aim to reveal the influencing factors of urban flood resilience and their inner relationships. In order to make a significant contribution to the long-term improvement of urban flood resilience in the context of global climate change and urbanization, it is crucial to explore the influencing mechanisms of urban flood resilience. This study aims to identify key influencing factors and their interactions on urban flood resilience in China. To this end, a conceptual framework based on Pressure-State-Response model and Social-Economic-Natural Complex Ecosystem theory (PSR-SENCE model) are established and 24 factors are identified within three dimensions. The relationships between the factors are tested using a fuzzy-DEMATEL method. The results reveal that factors in pressure and response dimensions have a greater impact on the whole system, while the factors in the state dimension are more influenced by the other two dimensions. The results identify 14 critical factors, with four detailed influence paths discussed among the different dimensions. Accordingly, the implications for improving urban flood resilience are discussed within the context of the key influencing paths. The study provides a theoretical basis and approach to directly explore how the factors influencing urban flood resilience and proposes specific impact paths and improvement implications.