Theory

Sponge City

Kongjian Yu's planning concept treating cities as porous, water-absorbing landscapes that retain, filter and slowly release stormwater through green infrastructure as an alternative to grey flood-control engineering; adopted as Chinese national policy from 2013/2014.

Climate Ground Infrastructure

Details

Introduced: 2013

Referenced by

Kongjian Yu proposed
Qunli Stormwater Park, Harbin articulates

Sources

Qunli Stormwater Park, Harbin. 2011.
Kongjian Yu. The Art of Survival: Recovering Landscape Architecture. Images Publishing, 2006.
Kongjian Yu. Sponge City: Kongjian Yu and Landscape Architecture. Images Publishing, 2017.

Cite this entry

First published May 2026Last revised Jul 2026

CLAD. "Sponge City." Atlas of Architectural Thought. CLAD, 2026. https://www.cl-ad.com.au/research/atlas/theory/sponge-city/. Accessed July 17, 2026.