“Could sponge cities be the answer to China’s floods? Three years ago, when flooding in Beijing killed 79 people, the Chinese government was quick to blame the size of the storm, not the city’s failing drainage system. But the excuse didn’t persuade the public. News reports of fatal floods come as regularly to city dwellers as the annual monsoon season. No longer just a problem for farmers living on flood-prone plains, water has become the nemesis of China’s 680 million urbanites, whose concrete landscape was not built adequately to withstand the forces of nature. Despite presiding over a vast hydro-engineering industry – there are more than 87,000 dams in China, most of which have been built since 1978 – Beijing’s politicians have yet to prove they can keep their cities safe from flood and drought”. Continue reading via Turenscape.
Syndicated from Design China
The post Why China Wants to Build Something Called ‘Sponge Cities’ appeared first on China Fashion Bloggers.