This article discusses the concept of "sponge cities" as a solution to urban flooding and climate change. Highlighting the work of Kongjian Yu, a leading landscape architect, it explains how his designs integrate natural water management systems, such as permeable surfaces and green spaces, into urban environments. Yu’s approach promotes resilience by allowing cities to absorb and manage rainwater, reducing flood risks and supporting ecological balance. His vision of "ecological civilization" of...

The article "Soak It Up: How Cities Are Handling the Rise in Floodwaters" explores innovative urban strategies to mitigate the impact of rising floodwaters due to climate change. Highlighting the growing frequency and intensity of urban flooding, the article examines how cities worldwide are implementing sustainable solutions such as green infrastructure, permeable surfaces, and water-sensitive design. Notably, Kongjian Yu, a prominent landscape architect and urban planner, emphasizes the need f...

The article "Sponge Cities: The Flood-Proof Architecture of the Future?" discusses the concept of "sponge cities," which aim to address urban flooding exacerbated by climate change. This approach focuses on making cities more absorbent by using permeable surfaces, green spaces, and water management techniques like bioswales and rain gardens. Inspired by traditional water preservation methods, the idea was popularized by Chinese landscape architect Kongjian Yu and has gained international tractio...

The article highlights Bangkok's use of urban forests as a nature-based solution to combat worsening floods, with projects led by landscape architects Kongjian Yu. This park act as natural sponges, absorbing rainwater and reducing runoff during the monsoon season, as well as incorporate floodplains, weirs, and native vegetation to manage stormwater, improve water quality, and create green spaces for wildlife and the community.

Professor Kongjian Yu is a proponent of the "sponge city" concept, advocating for the restoration of wetlands, parks, and riverbanks to combat floods exacerbated by climate change. This approach uses plants, trees, and lakes to absorb rainwater like a sponge, reducing flood risks, promoting biodiversity, improving mental health, and storing carbon dioxide. His ideas are being implemented in cities like Zhengzhou, China, offering an innovative natural solution to replace traditional concrete and ...

Most architects look to control nature; Kongjian Yu wants it to take over.Intense storms are on the rise and cities across the world are finding it difficult to cope with deluges of floodwater. But instead of using high-tech, concrete-based engineering solutions to defend against the vagaries of the climate crisis, the Chinese landscape architect and urban planner lets nature do the work.

Kongjian Yu's "sponge city" concept uses Nature Based Solution, inspired by rice terraces, to manage rainwater and reduce flooding in cities with heavy rains. His projects, like Yanweizhou Park and Shanghai Houtan Park, show that using soil and greenery can lower flood risks and clean water.

Learn how sponge cities can be used in Brazil by reading our conversation with Kongjian Yu, the Chinese architect who created this concept.

How to protect cities, which house the majority of the planet's population, from the extreme weather events predicted to increase in number and intensity due to global warming? From China, an answer to water-related challenges—whether excess or scarcity—comes with the suggestive name of sponge city. A local government program based on this concept was launched at the end of 2014, following major floods that had hit Beijing, the Chinese capital, two years earlier. One of its goals was to locally ...