Sponge city

A sponge city is a city structured and designed to absorb and capture rain water and utilize it to reduce floods. Rain water harvested can be repurposed for irrigation and for home use. It is a form of a sustainable drainage system on an urban scale.

China has been noted for its effort in adopting the Sponge City initiative. In 2015, China was reported to have initiated a pilot initiative in 16 districts[1][2][3]. This initiative presents an alternative to solve Asia's flood problems. China seeks to curb its flood with the initiative. The country plans for 80 percent of its urban cities to harvest and reuse 70 percent of rainwater. Building sponge cities requires huge investments, but has a lot of benefits. Funding sponge cities has been a challenge[4][5].

Advantages

• Improves overall water quality
• Rainwater is captured and can be reused
• Reduces chance of flooding
• Reduces the railway problems
• Reduces urban heat island intensity[6].

See Also

• Low-impact development (North America)
• Nature-based solutions (European Union)
• Water-sensitive urban design (Australia)

References

1. Harris, Mark (2015-10-01). "China's sponge cities: soaking up water to reduce flood risks". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-08-24.
2. "What is a Sponge City?". Simplicable. Retrieved 2019-08-24.
3. Biswas, Asit K.; Hartley, Kris. "China's 'sponge cities' aim to re-use 70% of rainwater – here's how". The Conversation. Retrieved 2019-08-24.
4. Harris, Mark (2015-10-01). "China's sponge cities: soaking up water to reduce flood risks". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-08-25.
5. simoncox (2016-05-31). "Sponge Cities". Hydro International. Retrieved 2019-08-25.
6. "He, B. J., Zhu, J., Zhao, D. X., Gou, Z. H., Qi, J. D., & Wang, J. (2019). Co-benefits approach: Opportunities for implementing sponge city and urban heat island mitigation. Land use policy, 86, 147-157".