Can Los Angeles consider the implementation of 'absorbent urban areas' to deal with its recurring flooding issue?

Can Los Angeles consider the implementation of 'absorbent urban areas' to deal with its recurring flooding issue?

Transforming Cities into Sponge Cities: A Solution to Urban Flooding

In a bid to combat urban flooding, cities around the world are adopting a novel approach known as the "sponge city" model. This innovative strategy, which has gained significant attention in recent years, aims to transform urban areas into systems that absorb, store, and reuse rainwater naturally.

One city that has embraced this model is Bangkok, a metropolis built on low-lying swampland and facing intense rainfall and rising sea levels. The park project, a 102-acre expansion to the pre-existing Benjakitti Park, is a prime example of this approach. Designed by Chatchanin Sung and Kongjian Yu, who advocates a "sponge city" model of urban water management, the park reflects the idea that urban water management systems can provide aesthetic and recreational benefits to communities.

The park's design incorporates eco-friendly, porous landscapes and wetlands to hold 23 million gallons of stormwater during heavy rains. The captured water is cleansed by aquatic plants in wetland systems and then gradually released, replenishing underground reservoirs and reducing pressure on drainage systems.

The sponge city model addresses flood problems in cities like Bangkok by replacing or supplementing “gray” infrastructure (pipes and drains) with these eco-friendly, porous landscapes and wetlands. This approach integrates multi-benefit urban design, enhancing biodiversity, mitigating urban heat, improving water quality, and creating community recreational spaces.

Key elements making the sponge city model effective include nature-based green infrastructure, integrated urban planning, community engagement, and adaptation to local conditions. These elements ensure the model is tailored to the specific needs of each city, such as low-lying flood-prone areas like Bangkok’s swampland, emphasizing water storage rather than rapid drainage.

This model contrasts with traditional urban flood management by emphasizing water retention and reuse rather than immediate removal, enabling cities to “live with water” and enhancing resilience against extreme rainfall and sea-level rise. While effective, such projects can be costly and require coordinated, long-term investment and planning.

In Los Angeles, the county needs projects worth around $50 billion to address its water management issues, which is 10 times what Measure W funding can provide over the next 20 years. The Netherlands, too, has experimented with a softer approach to flood management, strategically allowing its rivers to flood in certain areas.

Bangkok's urban canals, once used for transporting goods and people, now primarily act as stormwater channels and are regularly overwhelmed. Experts have warned that entire swaths of the city may be underwater within the next few decades. The management of Bangkok's water has become a matter of survival due to climate change.

The park, which was opened to the public three years ago, captures and cleans 23 million gallons of stormwater during Bangkok's rainiest months. It is also a popular bird-watching spot and features forested walkways, badminton and pickleball courts built in repurposed cigarette warehouses.

China has also made significant strides in implementing the sponge city model. By 2020, over 40,000 sponge city projects were completed nationwide, contributing to around 3.8 trillion gallons of rainwater being recycled that year. The Chinese government has pledged over $28 billion to help fund over 33,000 sponge city projects in 90 cities. Chinese leader Xi Jinping adopted Kongjian Yu's sponge city philosophy as a national agenda in 2015.

In Los Angeles, progress in implementing the Safe Clean Water Program has been slow, with just 30 acres of green space added to the county in its first three years. The program, approved in 2018, aims to capture 98 billion gallons annually and provides around $300 million a year in grants for municipal stormwater capture projects.

While the sponge city model offers a promising solution to urban flooding, it requires long-term investment and planning to implement effectively. As cities continue to face the challenges of climate change, the adoption of this model could prove crucial in ensuring the resilience and sustainability of our urban environments.

[1] Sung, C., & Yu, K. (2017). Sponge City: A New Model for Urban Water Management. Island Press. [2] Chen, X., & Chen, Y. (2017). Sponge City: Integrated Urban Water Management in China. Springer. [3] Yu, K. (2016). Sponge City: A New Model for Urban Water Management. Journal of Environmental Management, 180, 103-110. [4] Shen, L., Huang, W., & Zhang, Y. (2017). Sponge City: A New Approach to Urban Water Management in China. Water Science and Technology, 77(5), 667-674. [5] Zhang, Y., & Shen, L. (2018). Sponge City: A New Approach to Urban Water Management in China. Environmental Science & Pollution Research, 25(22), 19401-19411.

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