Stormwater Management Modeling in “Sponge City” Construction: Current State and Future Directions

Abstract

In response to urban pluvial flooding and pollution, the Chinese government proposed a “sponge city” policy in 2013 that aims to improve urban stormwater management and promote sustainable urban development. However, at present, sponge city construction is still in its exploratory stage. It is still not clear which models are capable of simulating the six key processes (i.e., “retention,” “infiltration,” “storage,” “purification,” “discharge,” and “utilization”) of sponge city practices. Its various benefits (e.g., social, economic and environmental benefits) have not yet been systematically investigated in the context of the sponge city. In this study, we reviewed and compared 19 urban stormwater management models (including 13 hydrological models and 10 decision-support tools, as there are 4 overlap ones) and investigated their application in China. Firstly, we examined the mechanisms behind the hydrological models and compared the abilities of the models to simulate various processes. Secondly, we analyzed what kinds of benefits can be addressed by these decision support tools (DSTs). Finally, we discussed the applications and limitations of the models in various climate zones in China. The findings suggest that none of the models consider the impact of climate change on the sponge city practices (SCP) and none of DSTs can simulate the negative performance of SCP. Furthermore, the lack of sufficient databases in China limited the applications of many of the models. Additionally, we found that the hydrological processes corresponding to “storage” were given more attention in southern China, and “infiltration” of stormwater was of greater concern in northern China. In the context of sponge city construction, this paper provides suggestions for future model development of urban stormwater management in China, such as the development of a stormwater database and the incorporation of long-term climate change impacts into the model.

The Role of Aquifers in Sustaining the Sponge City Concept in Chinese High-Density Housing

“…In the proposed simulations, an incremented evapotranspiration corresponds to a lower recharge in steady-state conditions. In northern China, characterized by both water scarcity and flood risk, installations diverting water to both pipes and soils may be convenient [39]. Different types of installations can be strategically located along different sectors of the catchment, increasing water availability while decreasing waterlogging and flooding risk.…”

A Review of Recent Developments on Modeling Low Impact Development (LID) Technique

“…Among the many software packages available, SWMM is currently the most widely used tool in Sponge City and LID modeling [22], [49]. SWMM is a powerful dynamic rainfall-runoff simulation model capable of simulating a range of areas from a single, uniform subcatchment to an entire city drainage system [47].…”

Perception of sponge city for achieving circularity goal and hedge against climate change: a study on Weibo

“…Some scholars discussed the relationship among water elasticity, resources, treatment, ecology, waterscape and management modules based on sponge cities to solve urban water problems and human livability (Wang et al, 2021a). Based on the sponge city plan, six critical processes of water circularity include retention, infiltration, storage, purification, emission and utilisation (Liu et al, 2022) are applied in more than 30 cities in China. The increase in urban greening, urban river and lake wetlands expansion, and rainwater resource utilisation have reduced the city's carbon emissions (Shao et al, 2018).…”