China’s sponge cities

Faced with a worsening water crisis and fatal floods, cities across China are designing ‘sponge cities’. The idea was devised by landscape architect Professor Kongjian Yu. He says, “Since ancient times, Chinese cities along the Yellow River with monsoon climates have used ponds to manage flooding and stormwater. So we know these approaches worked for over 2,000 years because these cities survived… Flooding in the era of climate change presents an opportunity for landscape architects… Landscape architects can solve these problems — not with concrete pipes and cisterns — but with nature.”

Jared Green “Kongjian Yu Defends His Sponge City Campaign” The Dirt April 8, 2021

Image: Guilin, China. Credit: William Zhang, Unsplash.