Sponge City Program (SCP) and Urban Flood Management (UFM)—The Case of Guiyang, SW China

Abstract

Flood management is a complex issue in Chinese cities that exhibit high populations and have undergone rapid urbanization. Urban flood management (UFM) approaches can be used to mitigate urban flood risk. To address urban issues of poor water quality and urban surface flooding, the Sponge City Program (SCP) was initiated in 2013 in China. The SCP aims to provide an opportunity for Chinese cities to improve their current UFM practices. This study looks at Guiyang (a pilot sponge city located in SW China) as a case study to identify the challenges and opportunities of UFM in China. Guiyang is a valley city surrounded by a hilly landscape. Using interview records and flood data, we illustrate that the primary type of flood in Guiyang is fluvial rather than surface water flooding. In Guiyang, the current function and targets of the SCP have yet to engage with the catchment level flood management, instead mainly focusing on the site-specific context (i.e., community level). Catchment flood management planning (CFMP) and natural flood management (NFM) both address this problem and may be a more suitable approach to manage flood discharge from the upper and middle catchments in Guiyang. In addition, it is suggested that a mixed option combining “hard” infrastructure (e.g., reservoirs and floodwalls) with “soft” flood management measures (e.g., improving people awareness and participation) may improve urban flood resilience in Chinese cities.

Developing a “Sponge Catchment Management Plan (SCMP)” framework at the catchment scale: The case of Guiyang, SW China

“…The Nanming River stems from the Gui'an New Distinct and runs through the Huaxi Distinct and the Nanming Distinct (Figure 2). In recent years, the fluvial flood risk has increased due to the mountainous topography of the Nanming River Catchment and the rapid economic and population growth of Guiyang (Qi et al, 2021b). The basic principle of current flood management on Nanming River is “Integration of storage and drainage over the Nanming River Catchment.…”

“…mountainous topography of the Nanming River Catchment and the rapid economic and population growth of Guiyang (Qi et al, 2021b). The basic principle of current flood management on Nanming River is "Integration of storage and drainage over the Nanming River Catchment.…”

“…The constructed Grey Engineering (GE) have improved the flood control ability in the Nanming River. However, reservoirs, floodwalls, and flood channels require extensive construction and operational investment (Qi et al, 2021b). For example, the total investment can be over 1 billion RMB for a 10 million m 3 water storage capacity reservoir in Guiyang.…”

“…Only using GE or SCP is unsuitable for mitigating catchment flood risk in the Nanming River Catchment. (More details of GE and SCP in Guiyang can be found in published papers from the authors (Qi et al, 2021a, 2021b).…”

Rethinking Estuary Urbanism—Preparing Australian Estuary Cities for Changes to Come in the Climate and Biodiversity Emergency

“…Simultaneously, the area serves as space to retain, treat, and store water, rainwater and runoff while offering recreational, cultural, and environmental opportunities. Design strategies combine Nature based Solutions (NbS) [76][77][78][79][80], Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) [74,[81][82][83] and Alternative (or Nature-based) Flood Defence [81,[84][85][86] to generate bluegreen corridors and urban spaces acting as buffers zones to protect the urban environment and enhance natural water systems. This helps manage runoff, reduce urban heat island effects, and guarantee urban ecological connectivity to foster biodiverse corridors for flora and fauna since major environmental pressures in Newcastle LGA include the fragmentation of fauna habitats with limited integration of these in planning locally [7].…”