How sponge cities can fix urban flooding (and save millions in costs)

Ecogradia
Ecogradia
How sponge cities can fix urban flooding (and save millions in costs)
Loading
/

How sponge cities can fix urban flooding (and save millions in costs)

Sponsored by

Sponsored by

Ecogradia
Ecogradia
How sponge cities can fix urban flooding (and save millions in costs)
Loading
/
Apple PodcastsSpotify

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.

Episode outline

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.”

Summary

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.
Source: Turenscape

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.
Source: SLA

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.
Source: SIURA Studio

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.

Episode Notes

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.

W  |  holcimfoundation.org

Facebook  |  Twitter  |  LinkedIn  |  YouTube  |  Instagram

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.

W  |  holcimfoundation.org

Facebook  |  Twitter  |  LinkedIn  |  YouTube  |  Instagram

As mentioned in this episode

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

You can follow us and share your views on

If you like this episode and want to hear more, head to one of these podcast directories

Apple PodcastsSpotify

or other listening apps where you follow podcasts. There, you can listen to other Ecogradia episodes and write a review.

Better still, subscribe to our podcast today. Every new episode will be automatically downloaded on your chosen device, ready to be enjoyed offline, anytime, anywhere. And by doing so, you’ll be helping us produce even more great content.

From energy budgets to climate-specific strategies, designing a net zero energy building is a puzzle with countless moving pieces. This episode reveals how to turn overwhelming complexity into possibility.
Timber is having its moment in the global sustainability discourse. Will it replace concrete and steel, or be used in combination to usher in a new era of low-carbon construction?
Follow us on

Recent podcast episodes

Recent blog posts

Recommended episodes from the podcast

From energy budgets to climate-specific strategies, designing a net zero energy building is a puzzle with countless moving pieces. This episode reveals how to turn overwhelming complexity into possibility.
Timber is having its moment in the global sustainability discourse. Will it replace concrete and steel, or be used in combination to usher in a new era of low-carbon construction?

Leave a comment

Before posting, please review our comment policy here.