As the term suggests, the city will act like a sponge during heavy rains where rainwater could be absorbed, stored, filtered and cleaned during rainy days, and be used as needed to enhance the ecological function of the city and reduce the flooding in the city.
When effectively implement, the Sponge City concept could reduce the need for largescale artificial drainage channel works.
Hong Kong is on the common track of tropical typhoons has one of the highest rainfall in the Asia Pacific region with an average annual rainfall of about 2,400 millimetres. As global climate change continues, sea levels will rise and torrential rains and storms will get more common, WSP is helping to tackle these challenges.
WSP provided Water Environment Consultancy services to Architectural Services Department of the HKSAR Government on use of sponge city concepts and technologies for Hong Kong government buildings.
The project consists of:
a) Investigate and report on "Sponge City Concepts" adopted in Mainland China and similar cases worldwide;
b) Evaluate various sponge city initiatives and identify the potential benefits and constraints of each initiative for implementation in ArchSD’s projects;
c) Propose generic/conceptual/technical recommendations for integration of Sponge City initiatives into potential ArchSD projects;
d) Investigate the implications to BEAM Plus and LEED Sustainability & Greening initiatives.
“This is a significant win following our recent sponge city planning projects in Tianjin and Guangxi, China for World Bank and demonstrates our technical expertise in this field. It is a great example of implementing “Future Ready” to deal with climate change issues.” Says WSP’s Dr. James Xiong, Director, Sustainable Development and Environment, China Region.
