- Season 6
- Episode 1
- Architecture, Culture, Interior Design, Urbanism
In a warming, anxious world, can buildings heal both mind and planet? Unpack how wellbeing is reshaping sustainable architecture from the inside out.
When it comes to extreme weather, our first instinct is to build higher walls and stronger barriers. Sponge cities are turning convention on its head by embracing water instead of resisting it.
Consider this: 44% of all disaster events globally are flood-related while, paradoxically, many cities struggle with water scarcity. The cruel irony? Some of the world’s most flood-prone cities are simultaneously at risk of devastating droughts.
Sponge cities offer a new approach to managing water, with cities like Copenhagen and Jakarta leading the way. By mimicking nature’s water management systems, these cities are proving that the solution to our water crisis might have been beneath our feet all along.
| 00:00:41 | The impact of too much and too little water |
| 00:00:47 | “…44% of all disaster events around the world are flood related…” |
| 00:05:01 | “…floods will cost cities globally an estimated $500 billion per year…” |
| 00:05:46 | “…mega cities are sinking mainly because of groundwater extraction.” |
| 00:04:58 | Benefits of sponge cities |
| 00:06:13 | “…cities with more green space have seen a reduction in air temperature by up to five degrees centigrade…” |
| 00:07:04 | “…sponge cities aren’t just more resilient to extreme weather. They attract investment.” |
| 00:07:55 | Sponge cities in practice |
| 00:09:20 | “During the monsoon of 2015, Yanweizhou absorbed a surge of high river water protecting the greater part of Jinhua from severe flooding.” |
| 00:12:44 | “Large green spaces serve as emergency reservoirs during heavy rainfalls and within individual buildings.” |
| 00:15:03 | “…the more active lifestyle at Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park is equivalent to a positive impact on health, whose dollar value is up to $31 million.” |
As their namesake suggests, these urban landscapes are masters of absorption and release. Through an intricate network of rain gardens, bioswales, and retention ponds, they’re turning our cities into giant sponges that can soak up excess water when it rains and save it for when we need it most.
China has boldly embraced this vision, with over 30 cities leading the charge. The results? Nothing short of remarkable. These pioneering projects have slashed flooding, while breathing new life into depleted groundwater reserves.
Yanweizhou Park in Jinhua, Zhejiang Province (China) successfully protected the city from severe flooding during the 2015 monsoon.Copenhagen’s response to water challenges reads like a masterclass in urban adaptation. Their Cloudburst Management Plan has reimagined the city’s relationship with water. In Sankt Kjelds Plads, what could have been just another urban square has become a magnificent water plaza. This space doesn’t just manage floods, but celebrates them.
Copenhagen’s Sankt Kjelds Plads uses a network of green rainwater beds to protect the surrounding neighbourhood from flooding.Southeast Asian cities are following suit with their own projects. Notable examples include Jakarta’s Tebet Eco Park and Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University Centenary Park, which combine effective flood management with engaging public spaces.
Completed in 2022, Tebet Eco Park renaturalised a 700-metre stretch of open drainage into a meandering river.Sponge cities are proving to be powerful climate solutions beyond their water management capabilities. They’re cooling our concrete jungles by up to 5 ºC, turning the tide on urban heat islands. And for the number-crunchers? The economic benefits are as clear as day — savings in disaster recovery and soaring property values dwarf initial investments.
Keep reading if you want to deep dive into this interview’s content and get more out of it. You can also find out more about this episode’s guest/s and sponsor/s, and the team that put it all together.
This episode is brought to you by:
| The Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction The Holcim Foundation helps drive systemic change towards a more sustainable built environment. It was founded in 2003 to define and promote the key principles of sustainability for the construction sector and is committed to accelerating the sector’s transformation so that people and the planet can thrive. The Foundation has investigated various aspects of sustainable construction via a series of roundtables and conferences with international experts. It has also recognised excellent contributions to this field with the Holcim Foundation Awards which are considered the world’s most significant competition for sustainable design. Committed to a holistic approach that recognises the equal importance and interdependence of four key goals, the Foundation combines the collective knowledge, ideas, and solutions of our global community of experts with a recognised platform of international competitions to democratise thought leadership for the entire sector. |  |
This episode is brought to you by:
The Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction
The Holcim Foundation helps drive systemic change towards a more sustainable built environment. It was founded in 2003 to define and promote the key principles of sustainability for the construction sector and is committed to accelerating the sector’s transformation so that people and the planet can thrive.
The Foundation has investigated various aspects of sustainable construction via a series of roundtables and conferences with international experts. It has also recognised excellent contributions to this field with the Holcim Foundation Awards which are considered the world’s most significant competition for sustainable design.
Committed to a holistic approach that recognises the equal importance and interdependence of four key goals, the Foundation combines the collective knowledge, ideas, and solutions of our global community of experts with a recognised platform of international competitions to democratise thought leadership for the entire sector.
If you heard it in this episode, we likely have a link for it right here. Click on any topics, people, buildings, places, products and/or technologies listed below to learn more about each of them.
| 00:01:51 | “…of a sponge city is, how…” “What are ‘sponge cities’ and how can they prevent floods?” | World Economic Forum |
| 00:02:54 | “…with it. Wetlands, for example…” “What is a Wetland?” | US Environmental Protection Agency |
| 00:03:01 | “…introduce blue-green infrastructure that…” “What is a blue-green infrastructure?” | Architecture & Design Scotland |
| 00:03:05 | “…assets like rain gardens, bioswales, and…” “Soak Up the Rain: Rain Gardens” | US Environmental Protection Agency |
| 00:03:06 | “…rain gardens, bioswales, and retention…” “What are Bioswales?” | Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District |
| 00:03:06 | “…bioswales, and retention ponds that can…” “Retention basin” | Wikipedia |
| 00:11:00 | “…Park has riparian vegetation that filters…” “Riparian zone” | Wikipedia |
| 00:12:16 | “…sparked the Cloudburst Management plan, a broad…” “C40 Good Practice Guides: Copenhagen – Cloudburst Management Plan” | C40 Cities |
| 00:01:00 | “…by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2022…” “About the IPCC” | IPCC |
| 00:04:58 | “…return. The World Bank says that…” “What We Do” | World Bank Group |
| 00:08:10 | “…China is Yu Kongjian, a well-known…” “Kongjian Yu” | Turenscape |
| 00:08:14 | “…professor at Peking University and founder…” “About” | Peking University |
| 00:08:16 | “…founder of Turenscape, a leading…” “Turenscape” | Turenscape |
| 00:01:06 | “…cities in Germany and Belgium…” “Germany” | Britannica |
| 00:01:06 | “…Germany and Belgium experienced, you…” “Belgium” | Britannica |
| 00:01:21 | “…in the Middle East, Ghana, Brazil…” “Middle East” | Britannica |
| 00:01:21 | “…Middle East, Ghana, Brazil, and…” “Ghana” | Britannica |
| 00:01:21 | “…East, Ghana, Brazil, and Spain…” “Brazil” | Britannica |
| 00:01:22 | “…and Spain have all…” “Spain” | Britannica |
| 00:01:47 | “…based in Singapore. In this…” “Singapore” | Britannica |
| 00:04:34 | “…city of Copenhagen in Denmark…” “Copenhagen” (Denmark) | Britannica |
| 00:04:34 | “…Copenhagen in Denmark, for instance…” “Denmark” | Britannica |
| 00:04:39 | “…50%. In Wuhan, China, green…” “Wuhan” (China) | Britannica |
| 00:04:41 | “…In Wuhan, China, green infrastructure…” “China” | Britannica |
| 00:05:44 | “…happening in Bangkok and Jakarta.…” “Bangkok” (Thailand) | Britannica |
| 00:05:45 | “…Bangkok and Jakarta. These…” “Jakarta” (Indonesia) | Britannica |
| 00:06:01 | “…study in Guangzhou, China, suggest that…” “Guangzhou” (China) | Britannica |
| 00:08:50 | “…work is Yanweizhou Park, in Jinhua…” “Making friends with the flood: Yanweizhou Park, Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, People’s Republic of China” (Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, China) | Human Spaces |
| 00:08:51 | “…Park, in Jinhua, Zhejiang Province…” “Jinhua” (Zhejiang Province, China) | Britannica |
| 00:08:52 | “…in Jinhua, Zhejiang Province…” “Zhejiang” (China) | Britannica |
| 00:09:37 | “…floods in Bangkok, Thailand, and Jakarta…” “Thailand” | Britannica |
| 00:09:39 | “…Indonesia is compounded…” “Indonesia” | Britannica |
| 00:10:29 | “…is the Tebet Eco Park. A sponge…” “Tebet Eco Garden” (Jakarta, Indonesia) | SIURA Studio |
| 00:11:24 | “…In Bangkok, Chulalongkorn University Centenary Park offers a…” “Chulalongkorn University Centenary Park” (Bangkok, Thailand) | Wikipedia |
| 00:13:05 | “…is the Sankt Kjelds Plads. This newly…” “Sankt Kjeld’s Square & Bryggervangen” (Copenhagen, Denmark) | SLA |
| 00:14:17 | “…this. The Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park in Singapore…” “Bishan – Ang Mo Kio Park” (Singapore) | Atelier Dreiseitl |
| 00:15:36 | “…found in Portland in the…” “Portland” (Oregon, United States) | Britannica |
| 00:15:37 | “…in the US where the…” “United States” | Britannica |
There are no design features discussed in this episode.
There are no products or technologies discussed in this episode.
Host
Nirmal Kishnani
Producer
Maxime Flores
Senior communications executive
Sana Gupta
Senior editor
Tyler Yeo
Art director (video)
Alexander Melck | Phlogiston
Sound technician and editor
Kelvin Brown | Phlogiston
Video editors
Mathew Jose Kurian | Pride of Pandis
Steve Roshan | Pride of Pandis
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