The modification of the Turia River’s course in the 1960s marked a pivotal transformation in Valencia’s urban landscape, evolving from a flood protection measure into a hallmark of sustainable urban development. However, recent rainfalls and flooding events produced directly by the phenomenon known as DANA ((Isolated Depression at High Levels) in October 2024 have exposed vulnerabilities in the infrastructure, particularly in the rapidly urbanized southern areas, raising questions about the effectiveness of past solutions in the context of climate change and urban expansion. As a result of this fragility, more than 200 deaths have occurred, along with material losses in 87 municipalities, whose industrial infrastructure accounts for nearly one-third of the economic activity in the Province of Valencia, valued at 479.6 million euros. This paper presents, for the first time, a historical-document-based approach to evaluate the successes and shortcomings of Valencia’s flood management strategies through policy and spatial planning analysis. Also, this paper remarks the ongoing challenges and potential strategies for enhancing Valencia’s urban resilience, emphasizing the need for innovative water management systems, improved drainage infrastructure, and the renaturalization of flood-prone areas. The lessons learned from Valencia’s experience in 1957 and 2024 can inform future urban planning efforts in similar contexts facing the dual pressures of environmental change and urbanization.

1. de Valencia C. Report on damage to industry in the 87 municipalities affected by the DANA (Spanish). Cámara Valencia; 2024.

2. Joshi PK, Rao KS, Bhadouria R, et al. Blue-Green Infrastructure for Sustainable Urban Settlements. Springer; 2024.

3. Hamlin C. The Sanitarian Becomes an Authority, 1859. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on the History of Public Health and Prevention; 9 June–15 September 199; Sundsvall, Sweden.

4. Hamlin C. Predisposing causes and public health in early nineteenth century medical thought. Soc. Hist. Med. 1992; 5: 43–70. doi:10.1093/shm/5.1.43.

5. Rodríguez Ocaña E. Public health in Spain in the European context, 1890–1925 (Spanish). Revista de Sanidad e Higiene Pública. 1994; 68(0): 11–27.

6. Arnould J. New hygiene features (French). Libr. J.B. Baillière et Fils; 1902. pp. 1.003.

7. Sussman GD. Enlightened Health Reform, Professional Medicine and Traditional Society: The Cantonal Physicians of the Bas-Rhin, 1810–1870. Bull. Hist. Med. 1977; 51: 565–584.

8. Pogliano C. L’utopia igienista (1870–1920). In: Della Peruta F (editor). Storia d’Italia. Annali 7. Malattia e Medicina. Einaudi editori; 1984. pp. 589–631.

9. Hildreth ML. Doctors, Bureaucrats and Public Health in France, 1888–1902. Garland publishing Inc.; 1987.

10. de Sanidad RC. Fundamental issues of Public Hygiene in Spain. E (Spanish). Teodoro; 1901.

11. Hauser P. Madrid bajo el punto de vista medico-social (Spanish). In: Madrid ES (editor). del Moral y C. Editora nacional; 1902.

12. Capel H, Tatjer M. Reforma social, serveis assistencials i higienisme a la Barcelona de final del segle XIX (1876–1900). In: Roca Rosell A (editor). Cent anys de Salut Pública a Barcelona. Ajuntament de Barcelona; 1991. pp. 31–73.

13. Pulido Fernandez A. Public health in Spain and social ministry of the medical classes (Spanish). Est. Tip. Enrique Teodoro; 1902.

14. Hauser P. Medical geography of the Iberian Peninsula (Spanish). Eduardo Arias; 1913. pp. 235–236.

15. Polo Martín B. Floods and insalubrity as the trigger for city restructuring in Spain: the case of Burgos. UPLanD-Journal of Urban Planning, Landscape & Environmental Design. 2018; 3(2): 5–14.

16. Olcina J, Sauri D, Hernández M, et al. Flood policy in Spain: a review for the period 1983–2013. Disaster Prevention and Management. 2016; 25(1): 41–58.

17. Faus Prieto A. The cities of Valencia in the face of the floods of the Turia in 1776 (Spanish). Cuadernos de Geografía. 1999; 65–66: 122–123.

18. Martínez Magallanes LA. Los planos urbanos del Cuerpo de Estado Mayor del Ejército, 1865–1900. Scripta Nova; 2017.

19. Polo Martín B. History of urban cartography in Burgos: 19th-20th centuries. Unpublished doctoral thesis. Directors: Francesc Nadal Piqué and José Luis Urteaga González (Spanish). Universitat de Barcelona; 2020.

20. Cavanilles AJ. Observations on the natural history, geography, agriculture, population and fruits of the Kingdom of Valencia. [Volume I]. Madrid: Royal Printing Office; 1795 (Spanish). Biblioteca Digital de Floridablanca; 1795.

21. Sánchez-García C, Schulte L. Historical floods in the southeastern Iberian Peninsula since the 16th century: Trends and regional analysis of extreme flood events. Global and Planetary Change. 2023; 231: 104317.

22. Giménez-Font P. Historical cartography and alteration of river courses in Mediterranean Spain (Spanish). In: Alberola A, Olcina J (editors). Natural disaster, daily life and popular religiosity in modern and contemporary Spain. Universidad de Alicante; 2009.

23. Polo Martín B. A History of the Cartography of Burgos in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Imago Mundi. 2018; 70(2): 253–254.

24. Pérez Puche F. The flood reached this point (Spanish). Ayuntamiento de Valencia; 1997.

25. Selva Royo JR. Fernando Martínez García-Ordóñez. Trayectoria profesional. In: ViA Arquitectura. Premios 2005–2006. Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos de la Comunidad Valenciana; 2007.

26. García Heredia A. Beginning and end of the metropolitan area of Valencia. From autarchy to democracy (Spanish). In: Historia de la ciudad V. Tradición y progreso. ÍCARO (Colegio Territorial de Arquitectos de Valencia); 2008.

27. Peñín Ibáñez A. Valencia 1874-1959. City, architecture and architects (Spanish). Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Valencia; 1978.

28. García-Ordóñez FM. A regional plan: new Valencia (Spanish). Nuestro Tiempo. 1958; 45.

29. García-Ordóñez FM. Urban renewal in Valencia (Spanish). Boletín Informativo y cultural del Ateneo Mercantil; 1959.

30. Larrodera López E, García Ordoñez FM. General Plans with application to the General Plan of Valencia (Spanish). In: Sesión de estudio para el 1er Congreso Nacional de Urbanismo ‘La Gestión Urbanística’. Barcelona; 1959. Ministerio de la Vivienda, Secretaría General Técnica; 1962.

31. Selva Royo JR. 29+1. Metropolitan urban planning of Greater Valencia (1947–1986) (Spanish). Tesis doctoral sin publicar; 2014.

32. Fernando de T. Urban planning in contemporary Spain. 1900–1980 (Spanish). Alianza; 1982.

33. Selva Royo JS. Background and formation of the General Plan of Valencia of 1966 (Spanish). Cuadernos de Investigación Urbanística. 2014.

34. Carmona González P, Olmos Llórens J. River and city: The case of Valencia (Spanish). Revista del Colegio de Ingenieros de Caminos, Canales y Puertos; 1994; volume 28.

35. Rivera Nebot A. Flood in Valencia, October 1957 (Spanish). Maradentro; 2024.

36. Ajuntament de València. Valencia in the nineties. A city with a future (Spanish). València; 1987.

37. Llopis Alonso A. The Turia Garden: other times, other projects, other images. In: Historia de la ciudad VI. Proyecto y complejidad. ÍCARO (Colegio Territorial de Arquitectos de Valencia); 2010.

38. Plaza V. The Dana causes damage in at least 65 Valencian municipalities, with 31.8% of the population (Spanish). Available online: https://valenciaplaza.com/dana-causa-danos-65-municipios-valencianos (accessed on 2 November 2024).

39. Delgado A. The map of the scope of the DANA in Valencia already affects 130,000 homes (Spanish). Datadista; 2024.

40. Dordi T, Henstra D, Thistlethwaite J. Flood risk management and governance: A bibliometric review of the literature. Journal of Flood Risk Management. 2022; 15(2): e12797.

41. Van Leusseni W. Flood management in the Netherlands: how risks are addressed (Spanish). Revista Catalana de Seguretat Pública. 2008; 89.

42. Lebesque S. Along Amsterdam’s waterfront: Exploring the architecture of Amsterdam’s Southern Ij Bank. Valiz; 2006

43. De Mulder FJ, De Pater B, Fortuijn D. The Netherlands and the Dutch. Springer; 2019.

44. Available online: https://www.mosevenezia.eu/mose/?lang=en (accessed on 2 November 2024).

45. Settis, S. Is it too late to save Venice? Apollo; 2019.

46. Tagliapietr D, Sigovini M, Keppel E, et al. Bioerosion effects of sea-level rise on the Doge’s Palace water doors in Venice (Italy). Facies. 2019; 65(34): 1–16

47. Cour des Comptes. Insufficient Flood Risk Prevention in Île-de-France (France). Available online: https://www.ccomptes.fr/fr/publications/la-preventioninsuffisante-du-risque-dinondation-en-ile-de-france (accessed on 3 November 2024).

48. DRIEAT. Flood Risk Management Plan: Seine-Normandy Basin (France). Available online: https://www.drieat.ile-de-france.developpementdurable.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/fr_frh_frmp_no1_pgri.pdf (accessed on 3 November 2022).

49. Ville de Paris. Local Urban Planning (France). Available online: http://pluenligne.paris.fr/plu/sites-plu/site_statique_54/pages/page_1156.html (accessed on 3 November 2024).

50. Ville de Paris. Paris in the Face of Climate Change. Available online: https://cdn.paris.fr/paris/2021/11/16/088fcde428650ff1e3d9680f155a54a7.pdf (accessed on 3 November 2024).

51. Corrêa CJP, Tonello KC, Nnadi E. Urban Gardens and Soil Compaction: A Land Use Alternative for Runoff Decrease. Environmental Processes: An International Journal. 2021; 8(3): 1213–1230.

52. Jenkins K, Surminski S, Hall J, Crick F. Surface water flood risk and management strategies for London: An Agent-Based Model approach. E3S Web of Conferences. 2016; 7: 22003.

53. Sayers PB, Horritt M, Penning-Rowsell E, McKenzie A. Climate Change Risk Assessment 2017: Projections of future flood risk in the UK. Research undertaken by Sayers and Partners on behalf of the Committee on Climate Change. Committee on Climate Change; 2015.

54. Allison R, Haasnoot M, Reeder T, Green M. Literature review on an adaptive approach to flood and coastal risk management. Environment Agency, Horizon House, Deanery Road; 2021.

55. UWR. Large basins under the road network: How Frederiksberg will protect itself against cloudbursts in the future. Available online: https://uwrsystem.dk/en/large-basins-under-the-road-network/ (accessed on 5 November 2024).

56. Jørgensen ME, Kidmose J, van der Keur P, et al. Urban River Restoration, a Scenario for Copenhagen. Greening Water Risks. 2023; 347–365.