A co-evolving frontier between land and water: dilemmas of fl exibility versus robustness in fl ood risk management

River floods are among the most prominent, urgent and devastating consequences of climate change that one can experience in Europe. Climate change will increase both their intensity and likelihood in future (IPCC, 2014). This will affect urban areas in particular, because they are often located close to rivers or coastlines, thereby exposing valuable and vulnerable land uses to floods.