Flooding is one of the most devastating natural hazards, with increasing frequency and severity projected under climate change. Adaptation of the built environment has traditionally emphasized “hard” measures, such as levees and barriers, while “soft” measures, aimed at strengthening social and behavioral resilience through regulatory, educational, and community-based strategies, are less well known and often neglected. Although both are needed, the capacity of soft measures to increase resilience in isolation or combined with hard measures remains unclear, limiting their wider application and formal integration into the processes of resilience management.

This project first clarifies the concept of soft adaptation measures, providing a consolidated definition and categorization that distinguishes their types, benefits, and limitations. Furthermore, it explores how soft measures perform in the urban space, and how they interact with one another and hard interventions, strengthening the argument that integrated (hybrid) strategies are more effective in enhancing urban resilience to extreme weather events. The findings of this research contribute to both academic understanding and practical policy development. By establishing a clearer conceptual foundation and practical framework for soft adaptation, the study facilitates more coherent adaptation planning in the urban space.