![]() "Even when you have a bigger system, a much thicker, stronger pipe system, it will still fail after 10 years or even after one year," he said. And that's because you have a dam, not because you don't have a dam," he told DW. "Not only in China, but also in America, you see that failed dams kill a huge amount of people. ![]() Yu says replacing the concrete infrastructure can end up saving lives. Instead of building fast-flowing water channels, sponge cities slow down the water in meandering streams without concrete walls and with room to spread out during heavy deluges. The basic principle of sponge cities is to give water enough room and time drain into the soil where it falls, rather than channeling it away as quickly as possible and sequestering it in huge dams. Rapid urbanization has made Chinese cities susceptible to flooding Image: EPA/STR/dpa/picture alliance The basic tenets After successful trials, cities are now obligated to build sponge city elements, with authorities hoping to turn 80% of urban areas into sponges by 2030. In 2013, Yu's ideas were adopted by the Chinese Central Government and the plan was rolled out to 30 cities. His ultimate vision is a city devoid of gray infrastructure, with wetlands, green areas, permeable surfaces, widespread vegetation, winding creeks, open areas next to roads, and floodplains. Yu says tropical cities were mistaken in implementing the same water-management systems that were developed in the mild climates of Europe, arguing they can lead to catastrophic damage. Floods there and in other developing countries, such as India and Bangladesh, have been blamed on rapid urbanization and the destruction of wetlands, which are natural sponges that trap and release water slowly. The issue was thrust into the spotlight when flooding swamped Beijing in 2012, crippling the city and killing scores of people. Permeable surfaces like this one allow water to seep into the ground Image: Mu Yu/Xinhua/picture alliance An adaptable solution He says the current approach of building vast concrete barriers and covering all permeable surfaces is doomed to fail and instead cities should adopt nature-based solutions to flooding. Kongjian Yu, dean of Peking University's College of Architecture, pioneered research into sponge cities, and has spent more than 20 years campaigning for their adoption in China. These concepts could be used in cities across the world to combat flooding, absorb carbon dioxide, increase animal and plant life, and expand green spaces. Instead of relying on the "gray infrastructure" of levees, pipes, dams and channels, sponge cities allow urban areas to absorb water in times of high rainfall and release it in times of drought. ![]() ![]() The ministry had ordered Hebei authorities to evacuate all residents in the flood detention area before it started to receive deluge, the ministry said, without disclosing how many people were involved in the urgent evacuation.Faced with worsening urban floods, cities in China are embracing nature and building what are termed "sponge cities." The use of Langouwa, which stretches for 228 square kilometers and can store 323 million cubic meters of water, will help relieve the flood control pressure in the Xiong'an New Area, as well as some water bodies in the downstream of Daqing, the Ministry of Water Resources said in a media release on Tuesday. The deluge is so severe in Tianjin, where Haihe is located, that local authorities raised emergency response for flood control from Level III to Level I, the highest in the country's four-tier emergency response mechanism, at 1 am on Tuesday.įlood control authorities in Hebei province also decided to lift the sluice gates for Langouwa flood detention area as increasing amount of flooding water flows into the Daqing River in the province. The commission decided to resort to these areas for flood storage as constant afflux of rainwater pour into water bodies in the basin in an accelerated manner, resulting in increasingly greater pressure on flood control work, the commission said on Tuesday. Ī batch of rarely used flood detention areas in northern China have been put into operation as downpours brought by Typhoon Doksuri swell many water bodies above their danger marks and triggered the highest level emergency response for flood control in some regions.Īs of 7 am on Tuesday, five flood detention areas in the Haihe River basin have been put into use, according to the Haihe River Water Conservancy Commission, the authority that oversees water resources management in the basin. A railway bridge is destroyed by floodwater in Shijiazhuang, North China's Hebei province, July 31.
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