Analysis of Effects of Sponge City Projects Applying the Geodesign Framework

Abstract

This study aims is to verify the effects of sponge city projects focusing on the aspect of water pollutant control and urban flood control, applying the geodesign framework as an integrated planning method that can evaluate alternatives against the impacts of the designs. The study analyzed the effects of sponge city projects in Harbin, Quzhou, and Sanya, China. Three LULC scenarios are proposed based on the geodesign framework, and the spatial distribution and quantitative values are simulated by the InVEST NDR model and urban flood model study. By comparing different scenarios, the study proved the current sponge project could improve the water pollutant control capability by 11–18% and the stormwater control capability by 0.4–6.3%. If the city-wide green infrastructure network is introduced with sponge projects, the water pollutant control capability can increase by 9–15% and the stormwater control capability can increase by 0.8–2.9%. These results show that the current sponge projects can improve the city’s sustainability and be helpful strategies to fight climate change and global warming.

Perception of sponge city for achieving circularity goal and hedge against climate change: a study on Weibo

“…Ma and Jiang (2022) planning approach, Li and Kim (2022) analysed sponge city projects' impact on Harbin, Quzhou and Sanya, China. The results showed that current sponge city projects could improve the urban climate's warmth (Li and Kim, 2022).…”

A Review on the Use of Geodesign Processes in Managing Flood Vulnerability

“…Geodesign, as defined by Steinitz [1], is a design and planning method that couples landscaped scaled design and design processes with impact simulations informed by analytically derived geographic contexts. Its interdisciplinary collaboration [6], stakeholder engagement [5], and spatial analysis [7] make it well-suited for assessing the multidimensional nature of vulnerability.…”

“…The methodology has been instrumental in bringing analytics to complex design solutions [2], assessing outcomes of various design interventions [3], and crafting sustainable solutions to environmental, social, and urban challenges [4]. Despite an increasing application across fields such as urban planning [5], landscape architecture [6], and environmental conservation [7,8], the use of geodesign processes in assessing the vulnerability of populations or geographies has been limited. The geodesign approach, however, leverages transdisciplinarity and spatial analytical approaches to facilitate a comprehensive understanding of the interplay between environmental, social, and built factors that contribute to flood vulnerability.…”