Introduction

The inhabitants of Antananarivo, in Madagascar, are currently struggling with diverse water-related issues, like pluvial floods and water pollution, which are particularly damaging for vulnerable communities within the city. The Government of Madagascar acknowledges these issues and has signed a Country Partnership Framework with the World Bank, to address them. As part of this agreement, the PRODUIR (Integrated Urban Development and Resilience Project) is being implemented between 2018 and 2023.

Project location: (left to right) in the context of the highlands of Madagascar, the Metropolitan area of Antananarivo and the city scale.

The project development objective of PRODUIR is to enhance urban living conditions and flood resilience in selected low-income neighborhoods of Antananarivo, located predominantly along the floodplains of the Ikopa river. This study contributes to this objective by focusing on the design and assessment of Nature-based solutions (NbS) for disaster evacuation and flood risk reduction.