Development of a Community Flood Risk Reduction Guideline Using Design and Development Research (DDR): A Case Study of the Kelantan River Floodplain, Malaysia
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Abstract
Flood risk reduction at the community level requires more than technical hazard information; it requires locally relevant guidance that integrates spatial flood exposure, community preparedness, risk perception, and practical action. This study developed a Community Flood Risk Reduction Guideline for flood-prone communities within the downstream Kelantan River floodplain, Malaysia, using Design and Development Research (DDR). DDR was implemented through three interrelated phases: needs analysis, design and development, and evaluation. The needs-analysis phase integrated hydrological modelling, GIS-based flood mapping, field observation, and a questionnaire survey of 400 residents. Flood simulations were generated using HEC-RAS and processed spatially to delineate flood depth and village-level exposure across 20 communities. Approximately 4.334 km², or 43.39% of the combined 9.989 km² village area, was affected by flooding, with pronounced variation among settlements. In the design and development phase, empirical findings were synthesised with disaster risk reduction and disaster risk management principles, documentary evidence, and expert input to construct the guideline. In the evaluation phase, ten experts assessed 26 items using a seven-point scale converted to triangular fuzzy numbers. Expert consensus was evaluated through threshold distance (d ≤ 0.20), percentage agreement (>75%), and defuzzified fuzzy scores (Amax). All evaluated items achieved high fuzzy scores (0.833-0.937), supporting overall acceptance of the developed guideline. The study demonstrates that DDR can provide a traceable methodology for transforming hydrological, spatial, social, and expert knowledge into a locally contextualised disaster-management product, while Fuzzy Delphi analysis provides a transparent mechanism for validating guideline content under conditions of linguistic uncertainty
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