WELL LABS: 中国海绵城市崛起的背后是什么-- 一位前瞻性设计师和他的新增长模式
Dong’an Wetland Park in the city of Sanya in China’s Hainan Island, an example of a sponge city designed by Kongjian Yu. Credit: Turenscape
Kongjian Yu was only 10 years old when he witnessed the power of nature firsthand. Heavy rain caused the creek near his village in China’s Zhejiang province to swell and spill over to the rice terraces. When he ran to the river’s edge in excitement, he slipped into the surging floodwaters. Fortunately, he was able to save himself by grabbing onto the willow and reed vegetation that grew all along the banks. Decades later, in an interview with BBC, Yu said:
‘I am sure that if the river was like it is today, smoothened with concrete flood walls, I would have drowned.’
This experience had a profound impact on him, inspiring him to become a pioneer in the field of sustainable urban design.
Yu is widely credited with the concept of ‘sponge cities’, which was implemented in China at a time when the nation was grappling with the adverse effects of rapid urbanisation – severe flooding, water pollution and water scarcity. In 2014, 641 of 654 Chinese cities surveyed reported frequent flooding and another study revealed that 45% of Chinese cities faced water supply shortages. To manage floods more effectively, China instituted a nationwide sponge city programme in 2014, which integrated blue-green infrastructure over existing grey infrastructure.
In the second part of our blog series on this nature-based solution, the Urban Water programme at WELL Labs summarises the driving forces that led to the implementation of this programme.
Read Part 1 | Soak Up the Rain: What is a ‘Sponge City’ and Can it Make Urban Areas More Climate Resilient?
Kongjian Yu is now the Dean of the College of Architecture and Landscape at Peking University and the founder of Turenscape (‘Tu’ means earth, ‘ren’ means people), one of the first and largest landscape architecture firms that practises sustainable urbanism in China. His childhood experiences also shaped his vision for repairing humans’ relationship with water. Growing up, he observed Chinese ‘peasant wisdom’ where farmers managed water, by maintaining ponds and berms to store and harvest rainfall. As China urbanised, this knowledge was abandoned in favour of grey infrastructure. Yu believes that we need to make friends with flooding and embrace ancient techniques that work with the water by slowing down surface run-off by harvesting it in ponds and constructing meandering rivers with vegetation or wetlands.
Photo by Vince Russell on Unsplash. Terrace crop cultivation in Yunan province, China.
Sanya Mangrove Park in China’s Hainan Island, an example of the sponge cities concept at work.
On the left, is a picture of terrace farming of rice in China’s Yunan province (credit: Vince Russell on Unsplash). Kongjian Yu grew up watching farmers manage water by storing it in ponds . On the right, is a photograph of the Sanya Mangrove Park in Hainan. Here, the mangroves within the ‘interlocked fingers’ catch and filtrate the stormwater from the urban pavement and road, creating public spaces at different elevations (credit: Turenscape).
Yu’s philosophy in landscape architecture, known as the ‘Art of Survival’, draws inspiration from the historical water management practices of Chinese farmers. It combines functionality and beauty to create landscapes that are guided by ecological sustainability, multi-functionality, cultural context and community participation.
Recognising the flood-control and recharge capabilities of natural systems, Yu conceptualised the sponge as a metaphor for efficient water management. The concept took shape in the first pilot, Zhongguancun Life Science Park in 2000, where rainwater was collected and purified through an innovative artificial wetland.
An illustration of how water is purified through wetland systems. Image by Turenscape and Kongjian Yu.
This image by Konjian Yu, Turenscape and Peking University, illustrates how a constructed wetland system (or blue-green infrastructure) purifies river water. The quality of the water is evident from the pictures of the beakers – the one on the left is murky and not fit for use, while the one on the right is significantly cleaner. This graphic captures what’s at play in Houtan Park, a regenerative ‘living landscape’ on Shanghai’s Huangpu riverfront. More pictures of the terraced wetland system are available here.
Yu launched the concept of ‘Inverse Planning’ to reverse the damage caused by conventional planning procedures. Emphasising the protection of existing natural functions and advocating for preservation over development, he tirelessly engaged decision-makers at various levels; for instance, he delivered more than 1000 lectures to mayors and ministers. In 2006, his proposal to then Prime Minister, Wen Jiabao on initiating national-level research on ecological security was sponsored by The Ministry of Environmental Protection. Since this report was published, the State Council has issued four state regulations to guide land use and planning in order to maintain ecological security.
In his influential book, ‘Letters to the Leaders of China: Kongjian Yu and the Future of the Chinese City’, he amplified his advocacy efforts by directly addressing political leaders and policymakers. These letters served as a call to action, urging leaders to prioritise the preservation of nature, promote green infrastructure, and embrace a more holistic approach to urban development.
Yu’s dogged efforts over a decade played a critical role in fuelling the adoption of sponge cities. But this needs to be understood alongside the context of governance in China.
Read | Why We Need Urban Water Balances
Yu’s team took advantage of the top-down political system and gave presentations on the sponge city concept and ecological restoration that were made mandatory for government officials of all ranks. Public mass media was also extensively used for rebroadcasting a presentation series, which helped build broad community-level support.
Frederick Steiner, dean of the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design, describes Kongjian Yu as a ‘master of merging global ideas and applying them in the Chinese vernacular’.
An Olympic turning point for sustainable architecture
The Olympics also played a role in fuelling the adoption of the sponge cities concept. Beijing had been in contention for hosting the Olympics since 1992. However, it lost the bid due to environmental and mobility concerns. In 2001, China won the bid to host the Summer Olympic Games of 2008 on a $42.3 billion budget. It was decided that 42.2% of investment earmarked for organising the games would be used to improve the environment of the capital city – this was a turning point for sustainable landscape architecture in China.
Turenscape contributed to the Beijing Olympics by completing a number of projects facilitating these environmental goals while successfully integrating his sponge concepts. The Chaoyang Volleyball Park, an erstwhile gas appliances factory, is one such project which served as a proof-of-concept of the sponge city model.
Read | Challenges and Opportunities in the Residential Decentralised Wastewater Treatment and Reuse Sector in Bengaluru
Just four years after the Olympics, Beijing faced severe flooding, prompting Yu’s team to again draw attention to the success of green infrastructure in Qiaoyuan Park in Tianjin and Qunli stormwater park in Harbin in mitigating floods.
Through the intersections of Kongjian Yu’s journey and China’s evolving political movements, we can gain valuable insights on integrating sustainable planning and design into the growth fabric of a nation. Yu’s demonstration of sponge city concepts through a series of captivating pilot projects, his data-backed academic research to influence the government, his ability to blend scientific thought with cultural context coupled with state reforms to spur a green transition led to the watershed moment – nationwide adoption of the sponge city model.
