Flooding and sponge city in China

Five years ago, when flooding in Beijing killed 79 people, the Chinese government was quick to blame the size of the storm, not the city’s failing drainage system. But the excuse didn’t persuade the public. News reports of fatal floods come as regularly to city dwellers as the annual monsoon season.No longer just a problem for farmers living on flood-prone plains, water has become the nemesis of China’s 680 million citizens, whose concrete landscape was not built adequately to withstand the forces of nature.

The number of Chinese cities affected by floods has more than doubled than a decade ago. The rate of flooding has become a national scandal. It’s time to invest in a new type of green infrastructure. In 2015, the government decided to make development of 16 model “sponge cities”—an ecologically friendly alternative to the gray urban expanses of modern China. These will require infrastructure retrofits of existing cities all over China. Hope it may be helpful. More rational urban design is not only for people to live in a beautiful environment, but more importantly, for residents to live in a healthy city and under a long-term protection.