Speaker
Description
Stormwater management has become increasingly complex in recent years as the challenges posed by climate change and urbanization have escalated, resulting in flooding, water pollution and water scarcity. To address this issue, China has been proposing a sponge city strategy since 2013, aiming to improve the sustainability and resilience of cities through sustainable water management practices. After years of practice, the construction of sponge cities has gradually changed from individual projects to a systems governance mindset with integrated goals and multiple values. In this process, watersheds are a key part of urban ecological construction and water system management. How to consider the upstream-downstream linkages in a river basin in sponge city planning in the watershed, and how to coordinate the realization of the overall ecological goals of the city with the implementation of individual projects, has become an urgent problem to be solved.
Therefore, this study take the example of sponge city planning in the Baopoxi watershed in Sanya, China, analyzing how sponge city principles can be effectively applied to manage stormwater, reduce flooding, improve water quality, and respond to climate change. In the study case, guided by watershed systems governance thinking, the authors constructed a two-way guided approach in which master plans and projects are mutually calibrated. Based on the natural process of rainwater runoff pooling, a natural hydrological simulation model was developed, and a systematic framework of‘watershed integration + neighborhood management’was constructed. At the watershed level, natural hydrological processes are modelled and Nature-Based Solutions are proposed, focusing on sustainable urban development and ecosystem protection. At the neighborhood level, green infrastructure such as rain gardens, permeable surfaces and artificial wetlands are implemented according to geological features. At the same time, in the process of proposing the planning scheme, we paid attention to other aspects of the local residents' demands such as leisure, recreation and cultural and psychological aspects of the watershed, and integrated them into the planning scheme. The scheme also takes into account the issues of financing and economic benefits, and helps to achieve the city's multiple value objectives through the integration of sponge city planning. Finally, we also evaluated the effectiveness of the implementation of sponge city planning in the Baopoxi watershed through model simulation and monitoring data.
The findings emphasize the importance of systematic consideration at the watershed level, the selection of suitable green infrastructure and stakeholder participation for sponge cities to be effective. The potential of sponge cities as a viable solution for enhancing urban resilience in the face of climate change was also highlighted. At the same time, the study provides valuable insights and implications for future work in urban planning and watershed management under the impacts of climate change and for the practical application of sponge cities.
| Keywords | sponge city; stormwater management; climate change; green infrastructure; watershed models |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | No |
