A Systematic Review Comparing Urban Flood Management Practices in India to China’s Sponge City Program

Nawnit Kumar, Xiaoli Liu, Sanjena Narayanasamydamodaran and Kamlesh Kumar Pandey
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Nawnit Kumar: State Key Laboratory of Hydroscience and Hydraulic Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Xiaoli Liu: State Key Laboratory of Hydroscience and Hydraulic Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Sanjena Narayanasamydamodaran: State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Kamlesh Kumar Pandey: Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi 221005, Uttar Pradesh, India

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 11, 1-30

Abstract: India and China are among the two most populous countries in the world that concomitantly incur substantial flood-related losses, and both countries are also experiencing rapid urbanization. This study was conducted to trace the major urban flooding cases in these countries between 2014 and 2020 and probe into their existing flood mitigation policies with special focus on China’s Sponge City Program (SCP). A systematic review using preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols (PRISMA) was conducted. Results showed that both these countries experienced comparable challenges in terms of the need for localized low impact development (LID) planning given their extensive geographically induced diversities. Improved inter-governmental and inter-agential coordination, new avenues of funding involving public and private enterprises with accommodations to source local products and services to boost local economies, improved practical and technical understanding for working professionals and improved community acceptance and participation are also recommended. It is concluded that India should try to focus on holistic urban water resilience as China does with its Sponge City Program and that China should take a cue from India’s contractual and tender-based private service sourcing methods to tide over its financial setbacks in order to achieve its ambitious targets for 2030.

Keywords: urban flooding; sponge city; smart city; low impact development; runoff (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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