You are on page 1of 3

Chinas Sponge City Program

Making Chinas cities watertight presents opportunities for Australian water


technologies

BACKGROUND

Rapid urbanisation, poor water management and drainage are large issues in China. More than 230 cities were
affected by flooding in 2013. With cities getting bigger and climate change threatening to bring more extreme weather,
China has embarked on the sponge city initiative.

A sponge city is a city that acts as a sponge with an urban environment planned and constructed to soak up almost
every raindrop and capture that water for reuse. Instead of funnelling rainwater away, a sponge city retains it for use
within its own boundaries. The recycled water can be used to recharge depleted aquifers, and irrigate gardens and
urban farms. When properly treated, the recycled water can replace drinking water, flush toilets or clean homes.

The concept of a sponge city is quite similar to the United States Low Impact Development (LID), the United
Kingdoms Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) and Australias Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD).1 The
Chinese interpretation requires redesigning and retrofitting existing urban areas, and designing new urban areas to
better capture, clean and reuse water. It requires new equipment, technologies and international collaboration to
implement successfully.

Cities in China have become more conscious about


rainfall levels and their local environment in general.
Rainfall is commonly unsafe to drink due to air
pollutants; it can become more contaminated due to
poor drainage infrastructure, pollution run-off and
sewerage system overflow.

The Chinese Governments 13th Five-Year Plan


(201620) highlighted water conservation as its first
priority in the nations built infrastructure network. It
emphasised that water resource management, water
ecology remediation and water environment
protection will be the most important element of
infrastructure construction.

To implement the plan, the Ministry of Housing and


Urban Rural Development (MOHURD), and
Ministries of Finance and Water released the

Source: www.gochengdu.cn

1 Wang Jiazhuo, China Urban Planning Design Institute, China Water Summit 2015.
Construction Guideline for Sponge City at the end of 2014. The program is partially funded by the Ministry of Finance.
The sponge city initiative aims to maximise water retainment and minimise the effects of drought and flooding by
recycling and efficiently applying water supplies and reserves. It will strengthen urban planning and construction
management, and use buildings, roads, green spaces and other ecosystems to absorb rainwater, increase reservoir
permeability and effectively control stormwater run-off for storage and reuse in urban settings.

PILOT SPONGE CITIES

In April 2015, China's central authorities announced the first 16 pilot sponge cities:

1. Qianan (Hebei Province) 10. Wuhan (Hubei Province)


2. Baicheng (Jilin Province) 11. Changde (Hunan Prvince)
3. Zhenjiang (Jiangsu Province) 12. Nanning (Guangxi Province)
4. Jiaxing (Zhejiang Province) 13. Chongqing
5. Chizhou (Anhui Province) 14. Suining (Sichuan Province)
6. Xiamen (Fujian Province) 15. Guian New District (Guiyang and Anshun City,
7. Pingxiang (Jiangxi Province) Guizhou Province)
8. Jinan (Shandong Province) 16. Xixian New District (Xian and Xianyang City,
9. Hebi (Henan Province) Shaanxi Province).
These cities will set up systems to allow rainwater to be stored and purified using a permeation system over the next
three years. However, the methods and mechanisms of doing this are varied and depend on the local situation.

Over the next three years, the Government will allocate each sponge city between 400 and 600 million RMB
(approximately A$85 million to A$128 million) to develop ponds, filtration pools and wetlands; and build permeable
roads and public spaces that enable stormwater to be absorbed and reused. Ultimately, the plan is to manage 60 per
cent of rainwater that falls in these cities.

Rainfall in most Chinese cities makes it way to the nearest rivers and lakes through the local drainage systems. Much
of the nations drainage systems is under-developed. This often leads to significant flooding during heavy rainfall.
Under the sponge city initiative, nearly 70 per cent of excess rain water will be recycled and reused on greenery,
street cleaning and fire-fighting. By 2020, more than 20 per cent of urban areas will meet sponge city objectives and
requirements, raising rainfall management to more than 80 per cent by 2030.

FUNDING

The Chinese Government will coordinate arrangements for funding through existing channels to support and guide
the the sponge city initiative. Local governments at all levels, along with provincial government, will add further funds
to sponge city urban construction funding.

The Government has requested relevant financial institutions to increase credit support for sponge city construction
efforts. This increased credit support, coupled with the active promotion of government and social capital cooperation
(publicprivate partnerships), will be used to leverage existing resources.

Apart from Chinese Governmentfunded pilot sponge cities, other cities are improving urban water management
through existing resources. Austrade anticipates that the Chinese Government will announce further pilot cities in
coming years.

17 February 2016 Austrade Chinas Sponge City Program > 2


Example of typical projects: Chizhou City of Anhui Province, projects over the three years and related
investments

Project categories Number of projects Project investment ($M


RMB)

Sponge city system for 22 1,400


roads and traffic

System for greenland and 14 790


garden

Housing system 45 16,379

Water ecology and water 29 2,946


safety system

Safeguard systems 7 137

HOW TO GET INVOLVED

Austrade is promoting Australian capability in urban sustainable development and water management to Chinas
government and industries. During AWIC 2016, Urban Sustainability and Water Management program delegates will
visit the sponge city pilot cities of Xiamen (Fujian Province) and Jiaxing (Zhejiang Province) from 11 15 April 2016.

Austrade recently visited Xiamen and Jiaxing and has further details on their specific sponge city initiatives. To
register your interest in attending AWIC or to find out more please contact Austrade.

CONTACT AUSTRADE

China: Sandy Deng, Business Development Manager, Shanghai

Email: sandy.deng@austrade.gov.au or Tel: +86 137 0183 2379

Australia: Leonie Smith, Senior Trade Adviser Water, Melbourne

Email: water@austrade.gov.au or Tel: +61 3 9648 3179

Chinese official document:

http://www.mof.gov.cn/zhengwuxinxi/zhengcefabu/201510/t20151016_1507043.htm

17 February 2016 Austrade Chinas Sponge City Program > 3

You might also like