China’s Sponge City Initiative Promotes Green Infrastructure

China has implemented a national project known as the Sponge City Initiative with the objective that 80% of urban areas should absorb and reuse at least 70% of storm water by 2020. The initiative combines the use of permeable surfaces and green infrastructures to make China’s urban areas more resilient against heavy rainfall.

The initiative, launched in 2015 in 16 cities, is scheduled to expand. Lingang, China, the largest sponge city to date, includes rooftop gardens, rainwater storage wetlands and permeable pavements to both store excess runoff and moderate temperature. Already Shanghai, one of China’s largest cities, has announced plans to join the initiative; the city plans to create 4.3 sq meters of rooftop gardens.

While the initiative has proofed successful in protecting infrastructure, weak regulations and low funding remain an obstacle. The China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research has cited several other obstacles such as unavailable green materials and planning models that are too homogeneous and not locally specific. To overcome some of these difficulties, the central government of China is working with the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) to discover how they can more effectively meet their green infrastructure needs.