To curb urban flooding, China is building ‘sponge cities.’ Do they work?
China’s innovative, multi-billion-dollar program to mitigate urban flooding using natural means – by creating “sponge cities” – faced its biggest test yet last week, and showed its limitations.
A sudden, record downpour on July 20 overwhelmed the landlocked central city of Zhengzhou, one of 30 designated sponge cities, causing massive flooding in the subway system and highways, and across the city and surrounding region, as about a year’s worth of rain fell in only four days.
“The incident of Zhengzhou is very rare and very unfortunate,” says Faith Chan, associate professor of environmental sciences at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China, who has researched the sponge city projects. But, he adds, “we can learn from this incident.”
China’s sponge city program aims to use pervious pavements, rain gardens, green roofs, urban wetlands,
A concrete jungle risesA harmonious relationship with natureThe politics of hydrology
