Managing Urban Floods towards “Sponge Resilience Cities”—Concepts and Practices

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Urban Water Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2022) | Viewed by 15425

Special Issue Editors

1. Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, Ningbo 315100, China
2. Visiting Senior Research Fellow, Water@Leeds Research Institute, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
Interests: urban flood risk management; sponge city; urban water management; urban planning; urban water pollution control; microplastics; climate change adaptation; coastal flood resilience; coastal cities
1. Key Laboratory of Water Cycle and Related Land Surface Processes, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
2. Key Laboratory of Compound and Chained Natural Hazards Dynamics, Ministry of Emergency Management of China, Beijing 100085, China
3. Water Resources Interest Group, Faculty of Ocean Engineering Technology & Informatics, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Nerus 21030, Terengganu, Malaysia
Interests: hydroclimate variability; natural disasters; prediction and monitoring; climate change; time series analysis
Construction Engineering Management, Zhejiang University of Finance & Economics, Hangzhou 310018, China
Interests: post-disaster reconstruction; emergency management; building information modeling; sustainable urbanization

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Chinese cities (including coastal and inland megacities) that contain over 8–10 million inhabitants are undergoing rapid urbanization and socioeconomic growth and commonly have higher urban flood risk. Because of the higher consequences (due to the size of the population and associated properties), Chinese coastal cities are exposed to the effects of cyclones and enhanced surges.

In China, the establishment of sponge cities in 2014 has since resulted in the gradual emergence of success stories demonstrating their effectiveness in addressing pluvial urban flood issues resulting from the transformation of 30 selected pilot cities. This practice aims to reduce urban runoff during intensive rainstorms and address urban flood resilience while delivering multiple benefits via the improvement of blue-green spaces (e.g., wetlands) for urban runoff storage, ecosystems services, and social wellbeing.

This Special Issue aims to explore the dimensions on merging the concept of sponge cities with improvement in urban flood resilience. As part of this endeavour, we attempt to establish a new term “sponge resilient city” that uses improved techno-fixes (e.g., urban flood modelling), governance (e.g., public participation, urban planning, etc.), and communication and perception (e.g., via social media channels). For this Special Issue, we welcome researchers to contribute their latest research on the ways to address urban flood resilience and conduct better practices under the sponge city concept. Specifically, we are seeking manuscripts on the following topics:

  • Role of soft measures—flood preparedness, prevention, and post-flood arrangements that are enhanced by blue-green infrastructure;
  • Improving resilience by understanding through the latest advances in hydrological modelling and simulation to mitigate climate change (intensive rainfall) impacts by using sponge city measures that connect with urban catchment;
  • Understanding various approaches and strategies to improve urban flood resilience (e.g., via increasing public perception, using social media, communication and behavioural approaches, etc.) in the context of sponge cities.

Prof. Dr. Faith Chan
Prof. Dr. Yanfang Sang
Prof. Dr. Yi Peng
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • sponge city
  • urban flood resilience
  • urbanization
  • cities
  • climate change

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 3470 KiB  
Article
Experimental Investigation of Relationship between Infiltration Rate and Soil Moisture under Rainfall Conditions
by Ling Wei, Moyuan Yang, Zhu Li, Jingli Shao, Liqin Li, Peng Chen, Shu Li and Ruibo Zhao
Water 2022, 14(9), 1347; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w14091347 - 21 Apr 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3609
Abstract
In this study, a mathematical expression describing the relationship between infiltration rate and soil moisture content was deduced based on the Horton equation in order to study the relationship between infiltration rate and soil moisture content during the rainfall infiltration process. Specific experimental [...] Read more.
In this study, a mathematical expression describing the relationship between infiltration rate and soil moisture content was deduced based on the Horton equation in order to study the relationship between infiltration rate and soil moisture content during the rainfall infiltration process. Specific experimental data on infiltration processes were used to verify the validity of the equations and to analyze the main factors affecting the infiltration rate. The results indicate the following: (1) The experimental data demonstrated a high degree of accuracy. The volumetric error of soil moisture increase and cumulative infiltration was 3.5% and the coefficient of determination (R2) was 0.87 in the 42 tests. (2) The equation obtained in this paper can well describe the relationship between infiltration rate and soil moisture content; the R2 of the fitted results was greater than 0.80 in more than 80% of the experiments. (3) The relationship between infiltration rate and soil moisture content is mainly influenced by initial soil moisture content; the higher the initial soil moisture content, the lower the initial infiltration rate, the faster the infiltration rate decreases with soil moisture content, and the lower the “relative stable infiltration rate” in the process of infiltration. Full article
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25 pages, 3395 KiB  
Article
The Demographic Implication for Promoting Sponge City Initiatives in the Chinese Megacities: A Case of Wuhan
by Shan Zheng, Yuting Tang, Faith Ka Shun Chan, Liyong Cao and Ruixiang Song
Water 2022, 14(6), 883; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w14060883 - 11 Mar 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2704
Abstract
Urbanisation and ever-intensified rainstorms exacerbated urban waterlogging in some Chinese cities. In 2013, the Chinese government proposed a nationwide initiative, Sponge City, for managing the flood risk using the nature-based solution (NBS) approach. Pilot projects have been implemented among thirty selected cities, including [...] Read more.
Urbanisation and ever-intensified rainstorms exacerbated urban waterlogging in some Chinese cities. In 2013, the Chinese government proposed a nationwide initiative, Sponge City, for managing the flood risk using the nature-based solution (NBS) approach. Pilot projects have been implemented among thirty selected cities, including Wuhan. Because the effectiveness of implementing NBS relies on the participation of the well-informed public, this study aims at identifying the factors affecting the awareness of the public about the Sponge City program. The viewpoint of people in Wuhan on urban floods and the Sponge City initiatives was surveyed among 1600 participants using a face-to-face questionnaire in mostly Wuchang area of Wuhan; more than 900 of them were further interviewed. The majority of participants, though recognising the threats from flooding, were lacking awareness and understanding of the Sponge City initiatives. The Chi-square analyses of association revealed that the level of awareness is affected by education, age and residential time; these demographic factors also affected their interpretation of the direct experiences of the water environment and governmental water management. To optimise communicating the relevant policy to the public, the content and the advertising tools for promoting Sponge City may need to be mindfully customised for targeted demographic groups. Full article
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20 pages, 5534 KiB  
Article
Assessment of Sponge City Flood Control Capacity According to Rainfall Pattern Using a Numerical Model after Muti-Source Validation
by Haichao Li, Hiroshi Ishidaira, Yanqi Wei, Kazuyoshi Souma and Jun Magome
Water 2022, 14(5), 769; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w14050769 - 28 Feb 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3150
Abstract
Urban floods are a common urban disaster that threaten the economy and development of cities. Sponge cities can improve flood resistance ability and reduce floods by setting low-impact development measures (LID). Evaluating flood reduction benefits is the basic link in the construction of [...] Read more.
Urban floods are a common urban disaster that threaten the economy and development of cities. Sponge cities can improve flood resistance ability and reduce floods by setting low-impact development measures (LID). Evaluating flood reduction benefits is the basic link in the construction of sponge cities. Therefore, it is of great significance to evaluate the benefits of sponge cities from the perspective of different rain patterns. In this study, we investigated the urban runoff of various rainfall patterns in Mianyang city using the Strom Water Management Model (SWMM). We employed 2–100-year return periods and three different temporal rainfall downscaling methods to evaluate rain patterns and simulate urban runoff in Mianyang, with and without the implementation of sponge city measures. After calibration, model performance was validated using multi-source data concerning flood peaks and inter-annual variations in flood magnitude. Notably, the effects of peak rainfall patterns on historical floods were generally greater than the effects of synthetic rainfalls generated by temporal downscaling. Compared to the rainfall patterns of historical flood events, the flood protection capacities of sponge cities can be easily overestimated when using the synthetic rainfall patterns generated by temporal downscaling. Overall, an earlier flood peak was associated with better flood sponge city protection capacity. In this context, the results obtained in this study provide useful reference information about the impact of rainfall pattern on urban flood control by LID, and can be used for sponge city design in other part of China. Full article
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20 pages, 83681 KiB  
Article
Sponge City Program (SCP) and Urban Flood Management (UFM)—The Case of Guiyang, SW China
by Yunfei Qi, Faith Ka Shun Chan, James Griffiths, Meili Feng, Yanfang Sang, Emily O’Donnell, Michael Hutchins, Dimple R. Thadani, Gang Li, Mengqi Shao, Linjun Xie, Sitong Liu, Chunguang Zhang, Xinan Li, Lingyun Liu and Ming Zhong
Water 2021, 13(19), 2784; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w13192784 - 08 Oct 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 5023
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, [...] Read more.
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. Full article
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