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Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering

ISSN 2095-2201

ISSN 2095-221X(Online)

CN 10-1013/X

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2018 Impact Factor: 3.883

Front. Environ. Sci. Eng.    2017, Vol. 11 Issue (4) : 18    https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-017-0984-9
REVIEW ARTICLE
China’s Sponge City construction: A discussion on technical approaches
Haifeng Jia1(), Zheng Wang1, Xiaoyue Zhen2, Mike Clar3, Shaw L. Yu4
1. School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
2. Beijing Orient Tetra Tech Ecological Technology Ltd., Beijing 100051, China
3. Tetra Tech, Fairfax, VA 22030, USA
4. Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA
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Abstract

Barriers and challenges of Sponge City construction were presented.

Several key technical points on Sponge City implementation were discussed.

Recommendations on Sponge City implementation strategy are proposed.

Since 2014, China has been implementing the Sponge City Construction initiative, which represents an enormous and unprecedented effort by any government in the world for achieving urban sustainability. According to preliminary estimates, the total investment on the Sponge City Plan is roughly 100 to 150 million Yuan (RMB) ($15 to $22.5 million) average per square kilometer or 10 Trillion Yuan (RMB) ($1.5 Trillion) for the 657 cities nationwide. The Sponge City Plan (SCP) calls for the use of natural processes such as soil and vegetation as part of the urban runoff control strategy, which is similar to that of low impact development (LID) and green infrastructure (GI) practices being promoted in many parts of the world. The SCP includes as its goals not only effective urban flood control, but also rainwater harvest, water quality improvement and ecological restoration. So far, the SCP implementation has encountered some barriers and challenges due to many factors. The present paper presents a review of those barriers and challenges, offers discussions and recommendations on several technical aspects such as control goals and objectives; planning/design and construction of LID/GI practices; performance evaluation. Several key recommendations are proposed on Sponge City implementation strategy, Site-specific regulatory framework and technical guidance, Product innovation and certification, LID/GI Project financing, LID/GI professional training and certification, public outreach and education. It is expected that the successful implementation of the SCP not only will bring about a sustainable, eco-friendly urbanization process in China, but also contribute enormously to the LID/GI research and development with the vast amount of relevant data and experiences generated from the Sponge City construction projects.

Keywords Low impact development (LID)      Green infrastructure (GI)      Sponge City      Barriers      Construction strategies     
Corresponding Author(s): Haifeng Jia   
Issue Date: 01 August 2017
 Cite this article:   
Haifeng Jia,Zheng Wang,Xiaoyue Zhen, et al. China’s Sponge City construction: A discussion on technical approaches[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2017, 11(4): 18.
 URL:  
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-017-0984-9
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/Y2017/V11/I4/18
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