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sponge cities

    DESIGN WITH NATURE TO CREATE A SPONGE CITY: “On a regional, larger scale, we need a massive plan, to see where it’s possible to give water more space. It certainly has holistic benefits,” stated Kongjian Yu, landscape architect


    Kongjian Yu pioneered China’s “sponge city” concept—less concrete and more green spaces to exploit stormwater instead of fighting it. Metropolises all over the world are following suit. “Industrialized engineering solutions have messed up the whole water system globally. You have to solve the problem holistically, and the sponge city is a nature-based, holistic solution. It is inexpensive, and it can be done at a small or large scale. You can have your garden, but you also have to plan from the top. It is a sponge planet, it is a sponge countryside, it is a sponge urban district,” stated Konjian Yu.

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    RESTORE THE BALANCE IN THE WATER BALANCE: “From green roofs in Toronto to Vancouver’s rain city strategy, Canadian cities are looking to become ‘sponges’ in order to help mitigate some of the effects of extreme rainfall events,” wrote Morgan Lowrie of the Canadian Press (October 2023)


    “The goal is to reverse some of the harm done by decades of car-oriented urban development, which involved replacing natural spaces that soak up water with impermeable infrastructure such as roads and parking lots,” wrote Morgan Lowrie. “Green infrastructure can be incorporated into a landscape in many ways, from simple tree planting to rain gardens, swales, holding ponds and more complex bioretention systems that involve layers of filtering. Across Canada, cities appear to be jumping on board. The “sponge city” model brings multiple benefits.”

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    RESTORE THE BALANCE IN THE WATER BALANCE: “The sponge city concept marks a transformative change of China’s water management from the engineering-oriented paradigm to a more holistic and nature-based approach, which aims to strengthen the sustainability of the urban water cycle,” wrote Genevieve Donnellon-May, researcher with the Institute of Water Policy, National University of Singapore (January 2022)


    “Sponge cities, an integrated grey-blue-green solution for urban water management, are considered a paradigm shift for sustainable urban planning and management in China. Sponge cities seek to reduce the impact of urban surface-water flooding, water shortages, and the consequences of rapid urbanization by promoting water security, water environmental protection, and water ecological restoration. This concept is influenced by the ancient Chinese concept of human-nature harmony,” stated Genevieve Donnellon-May.

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    RESTORE THE BALANCE IN THE WATER BALANCE: Could ‘Sponge Cities’ Help Us Prepare For Our Flooded Future?


    “Extreme weather, a changing climate, and impervious streets and roads have combined to create an urban disaster. All of this has seen cities begin to re-imagine their relationship with water. Rather than just designing systems that allow the water to drain away slowly and stably, they want to harvest and reuse it. This approach to urban design – where water is held in place to be called-upon when needed – is known as the ‘sponge city’, and it is rapidly growing in popularity,” stated Laurie Winkless.

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