2016: The Year of Planning for Sponge City Construction
Release Time:
2016-01-13
Source:
2016: The Year of Planning for Sponge City Construction
Recently, the National Housing and Urban–Rural Development Work Conference was held in Beijing. Chen Zhenggao, Minister of Housing and Urban–Rural Development, emphasized the need to accelerate the construction of underground utility tunnels and to launch comprehensive planning for their implementation. Sponge City Substantial progress has been made in the remediation of black and odorous water bodies in cities.
The “Guidance on Value-for-Money Assessment” issued by the Ministry of Finance aims to establish a standard for determining whether a project should be implemented by local governments using the PPP model. In theory, only projects that pass the value-for-money assessment may proceed with PPP project preparation (the Guidance stipulates that domestic projects intended to be implemented under the PPP model shall conduct a value-for-money assessment during the project identification or preparation phase). Given the lack of historical data in China, future assessments will primarily rely on qualitative methods, supplemented by quantitative analysis. Currently, government policies related to sponge-city development actively encourage the adoption of the PPP model—for example, the Ministry of Finance provides an additional 10% subsidy to pilot cities that utilize the PPP model. The introduction of the value-for-money assessment mechanism thus provides crucial scientific assurance for the use of the PPP model in sponge-city construction and serves as a powerful catalyst for advancing such initiatives. With the government’s vigorous promotion, a nationwide PPP boom has now swept the country, with enthusiastic participation from provinces and municipalities, resulting in the launch of investment projects totaling several trillion yuan within a short period.
In April 2014, Xi Jinping first introduced the concept of “sponge cities.” Following the proposal, relevant policies were swiftly put into place: in November 2014, the Ministry of Housing and Urban–Rural Development issued the Technical Guidelines for Sponge City Construction; in December of the same year, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Housing and Urban–Rural Development, and the Ministry of Water Resources jointly issued a notice launching pilot projects; in January 2015, applications were solicited from cities to serve as pilots; in April 2015, 16 pilot cities were designated, and in July the Ministry of Housing and Urban–Rural Development promulgated assessment measures; in October, the State Council directed accelerated progress in sponge city construction and released a timetable for its implementation (with the core objective of enabling 70% of rainfall to be absorbed and utilized on-site through sponge city initiatives—specifically, requiring 20% of built-up urban areas to meet this target by 2020 and 80% by 2030). The recent statement by the Minister of Housing and Urban–Rural Development announcing the full-scale launch of sponge city construction reaffirms the previous positive stance toward this initiative and underscores the determination and confidence at the highest levels in advancing sponge city development.
Sponge city development meets two key criteria: a sufficiently large market potential and the identification of pressing issues that affect both national economic development and people’s livelihoods. The recent Executive Meeting of the State Council emphasized integrating sponge city initiatives with shantytown redevelopment, dilapidated housing renovation, and the upgrading of older urban residential areas, while also calling for the comprehensive promotion of sponge city construction in new urban districts, various industrial parks, and large-scale development zones—approaches that are both specific and practically feasible. As a result, sponge cities have now positioned themselves at the forefront of infrastructure investment. A crucial pathway for sponge city development is the restoration and enhancement of urban ecosystems to better manage urban stormwater runoff, which aligns closely with the national strategy for ecological civilization and with the public’s desire for lush green mountains and clear waters. The primary cause of the rapid alternation between droughts and floods lies in the extensive hardening of urban surfaces during China’s urbanization process: more than 80% of rainfall becomes surface runoff, and during heavy storms this runoff often exceeds the capacity of underground drainage systems, leading to urban flooding and, concurrently, severe non-point source pollution. Sponge city development seeks to address urban stormwater challenges through integrated management at the source, throughout the hydrological process, and at the end-of-pipe stage.
Sponge city development encompasses three major domains: low-impact development stormwater systems, urban stormwater drainage networks, and overflow stormwater runoff discharge systems. Investment priorities include the restoration and enhancement of ecological functions in residential communities, urban roads, green spaces, wetlands, parks, and urban water systems, among others.
