Case Study | Chinas Sponge Cities February 2016

Transforming Chinese cities into sustainable, resilient

and liveable towns

Floods, droughts and water environment

degradation: Australian expertise is
solving urban water management issues
and creating liveable cities in China.

More than 100 cities across China suffer from flooding

each year.1 At the same time, many cities in China are
increasingly vulnerable to depleting water supplies.
Chinas rapid expansion of urbanised areas has
resulted in major water management issues, including
environmental degradation that is now affecting the
wellbeing of citizens and liveability of Chinese cities.
Chinas Ministry of Housing and Urban Rural
Development, and Ministries of Finance and Water
created the sponge city initiative to rectify these issues.
Image courtesy of CRCWSC.
A sponge city is capable of storing and purifying
rainwater and stormwater for use during the dry season.
It can also help prevent flash-flooding in the wet season.
We have received great exposure and
In April 2015, the Chinese Government announced the
first 16 pilot sponge cities. Each is responsible for recognition of water-sensitive cities
implementing its own systems over the next three years across many stakeholder public
to resolve water management issues and become a agencies that cross over water issues in
sponge city. The Government will allocate each sponge
city between 400 and 600 million RMB (approximately China. This sets the CRCWSC and
A$85 million to A$128 million) to develop ponds, indeed the Australian industry as a
filtration pools and wetlands; and build permeable roads whole on a solid foundation for future
and public spaces that enable stormwater to be
absorbed and reused. Austrade anticipates the Chinese engagement.
Government will announce further pilot cities in coming Tony Wong, CEO, CRCWSC
years.
The Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Kunshan City in Jiangsu Province to help resolve its
Cities (CRCWSC), an Australian research body, has water management issues.
taken a pre-emptive approach to working with local
CRCWSC brings together inter-disciplinary research
governments in Chinese cities. In 2014, it partnered with
expertise by collaborating with over 80 research,
industry and government partners. It delivers socio-
1 http://watersensitivecities.org.au/ceo-interviewed-on-solutions-for- technical urban water management solutions, education
urban-flooding-in-china/
and training programs, as well as industry engagement
services to make towns and cities water sensitive.
CRCWSCs goal is to revolutionise water management.
Chinese cities are progressively embracing the idea of
liveability as a means of attracting talent and
investment for long-term economic growth, says Tony
Wong, CEO, CRCWSC. One of the factors
underpinning liveability in Australian cities is our
integrated water cycle management. Local governments
achieve this by commissioning ongoing, innovative and
water-sensitive urban design, and maintaining a goal of
continuous improvement.
As such, Australias urban design and water
management sectors have quite a wide spectrum of
expertise to offer including planning, design,
technologies and products underpinned by excellence in
interdisciplinary research in urban water management.
In 2014, CRCWSC, Kunshan City Construction
Investment and Development Company and the
Planning Bureau of the City of Kunshan signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
The MoU represents a combined commitment by the
two Kunshan agencies for city planning and city
construction to extensively use their future projects as
incubators of new planning, design concepts and new
technologies generated by CRCWSC, providing the
opportunity to test research concepts and findings on a
city-wide scale.
As a result of CRCWSCs involvement and cutting-edge
research, in January 2016 Kunshan was named one of
Chinas Ecological Garden Cities. The award follows a
comprehensive assessment by a national expert judging
panel.
Austrade advisers in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou
helped CRCWSC establish a number of key contacts in
local government and facilitated important visits to
CRCWSC by high-level government delegations from
Chinese cities. Austrade also helped CRCWSC secure
speaking opportunities at high-profile seminars and
events in China to promote CRCWSCs research and
practice.
We have received great exposure and recognition of
water-sensitive cities across many stakeholder public
agencies that cross over water issues in China, says
Wong. This sets the CRCWSC and indeed the
Australian industry as a whole on a solid foundation
for future engagement.
To form collaborations with Chinese clients, Wong
advises Australian exporters to take meaningful small
steps to set a firm foundation for enduring partnerships
with the public and private sectors.
For more information email info@austrade.gov.au or visit www.austrade.gov.au
Chinas sponge city market is centred on developing
publicprivate partnerships (PPPs) to leverage public
funding. These PPPs harness private equity to
encourage new investment in landscape ecology and
green infrastructure during the next 10 to 15 years of
urbanisation and urban renewal.
We will see the progressive forming of more flagship
multi-disciplinary enterprises or consortia to implement
sponge cities encompassing planning, design,
construction, monitoring and maintenance, says Wong.
As a first step to entering Chinas sponge city market,
CRCWSC recommends Australian organisations in the
urban design and water management sectors explore
opportunities around Chinas coastal regions,
particularly the Yangtze and Pearl Deltas. These
regions have strong financial capacity and government
backing for sustainable enterprises, coupled with rich
experience working with foreign entities.
Contact Austrade for more information
China
Sandy Deng, Business Development Manager, Shanghai
E: sandy.deng@austrade.gov.au
T: +86 137 0183 2379
Australia
Leonie Smith, Senior Trade Adviser Water, Melbourne
E: water@austrade.gov.au
T: +61 3 9648 3179
About Austrade
The Australian Trade Commission Austrade
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Disclaimer
Whereas every effort has been made to ensure the information
given in this document is accurate, the Australian Trade
Commission does not provide warranty or accept liability for any
loss arising from reliance on such information.
Commonwealth of Australia 2016