At the opening of the international conference, Chinese landscape architect and urban planner Kongjian Yu underscored the significance of the “sponge city” concept. He argued that in the face of extreme weather and flood risks, traditional grey infrastructure—such as concrete drainage systems and flood walls—lacks resilience and adaptability. Instead, nature-based “sponge cities” employ ecological infrastructure—wetlands, parks, permeable paving, rain gardens, green roofs—to absorb, store, and n...

Sponge Planet

Chinese landscape architect Kongjian Yu, dean of the College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at Peking University, and the visionary behind the “sponge city” concept, is scheduled to deliver the keynote lecture at the International CAU Conference 2025 in Brasília on September 4, 2025. Known for promoting nature-based solutions for urban flood resilience—such as permeable landscapes, wetlands, parks, and urban ecological infrastructure—the sponge city concept has been successfully impl...

Extreme rainfall and flash flooding are becoming increasingly frequent and severe, but most cities are ill-equipped to cope with these risks. In highly concretised urban environments, the “sponge city” is an urban planning strategy that builds climate resilience through restoring water’s natural patterns. We’ve been talking about sponge cities since 2016, and we’re thrilled to finally speak to the “Father of Sponge Cities,” Dr. Kongjian Yu. He is the Founder and Principal Designer at Turenscape,...

Sponge City and Sponge Planet

Kongjian Yu’s 27-year-old Beijing-based practice Turenscape has been named this year’s winner of the RAIC International Prize by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC).

Reimagining the Flow of Nature: Sponge Cities and a Resilient Planet