Received: 21 May 2016 Revised: 28 February 2018 Accepted: 11 April 2018 DOI: 10.1111/jfr3.12451 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Aligning ancient and modern approaches to sustainable urban water management in China: Ningbo as a “Blue-Green City” in the “Sponge City” campaign Y-T. Tang1 | F.K.S. Chan1 | E.C. O'Donnell2 | J. Griffiths3 | L. Lau1 | D.L. Higgitt4 | C.R. Thorne2 1School of Geographical Sciences, University of Nottingham Ningbo, Ningbo, China Modern urban flood and water management emphasises holistic strategies that 2School of Geography, University of Nottingham, reduce flood risk while providing cobenefits to urban economies, societies, and Nottingham, UK environments. The “Blue-Green City” concept provides a viable framework for 3National Institute for Water and Atmospheric putting this into practice. Ningbo, is a coastal city with high flood risk, whose his- Research, Christchurch, New Zealand tory as a Chinese “water town” demonstrates that approaches to water management 4 Lancaster University College, Beijing Jiaotong implicit to the “Blue-Green” concept were practiced in ancient times, and lessons University, Weihai, China can be learned from these applications. Furthermore, recent launch of the “Sponge Correspondence ” Prof. Colin R. Thorne, School of Geography, City campaign by China's National Government demonstrates the political will to University of Nottingham, University Park, implement sustainable flood and water management in ways consistent with the Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK. “Blue-Green” ideals. Selection of Ningbo for a pilot project presents the opportu- Email:
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