Social Sustainability
Sponge City
An urban design model using nature-based infrastructure to absorb, store, clean and reuse rainwater — pioneered at national scale in China.
Definition
A sponge city is designed to act like a sponge: absorbing, storing, purifying and slowly releasing rainwater through green infrastructure — permeable pavements, rain gardens, wetlands, green roofs and restored waterways — rather than expelling it rapidly through pipes. China adopted the model nationally from 2015, targeting 70–80% of annual rainfall retained or reused on site, in response to chronic urban flooding and water scarcity; the concept parallels water-sensitive urban design and sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) elsewhere.
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