SPONGE CITIES & By James N. Levitt and Emily Myron PARADOXICALLY, CHINA IS EMERGING AS AN INNOVATIVE focus on China’s conservation strategy, policy, GLOBAL LEADER IN GREEN INITIATIVES, JUST AS IT HAS and finance. “The Lincoln Institute has done a lot OVERTAKEN THE UNITED STATES AS THE WORLD’S of research on land conservation in the United PANDA BIGGEST SOURCE OF CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS States and elsewhere around the world, and the (Global Carbon Atlas 2016). “After decades of international knowledge developed from this rapid expansion brought smog and contaminated work helps China to address its enormous soil,” noted the official Xinhua News Agency, conservation challenges,” says Zhi Liu, director “China is steadily shifting from GDP obsession of the PLC and Lincoln’s China program. to a balanced growth philosophy that puts more “For a few years, we have been looking for a emphasis on the environment” (Xiang 2017). way to engage ourselves in China’s land conser- HABITAT China generated more solar power in 2016 vation. The partnership with TNC China—starting than any other nation. In January 2017, the with sponge city development or, more broadly, government announced plans to invest RMB 2.39 conservation for cities—provides us a perfect trillion (US$361 billion) in renewable energy entry point. As one of the partnering institutes in generation by 2020, according to China’s National the sponge city pilot project in Shenzhen, we are Energy Administration. This September, the focusing on strategic and institutional frame- government also promised to ban the sale of works and long-term finance. We hope that the gasoline- and diesel-powered cars at an unspeci- work in Shenzhen will also help lay a research fied date (Bradsher 2017). And to help meet its foundation for national policy making,” says Liu. commitments to the Paris Climate Accords, China will launch the world’s largest carbon “cap and trade” market in November 2017, targeting “ China is steadily shifting from GDP obsession coal-fired power generation and five other large to a balanced growth philosophy that puts carbon-emitting industrial sectors (Fialka 2016, more emphasis on the environment.” Zhu 2017). Land-based green initiatives include “sponge The Nature Conservancy’s cities,” designed to manage storm water runoff and prevent urban flooding, and conservation Sponge Cities Foray into China efforts to protect water quality and preserve wildlife habitat. The Peking University–Lincoln China’s unprecedented urban growth has taken a Institute Center for Urban Development and Land hard toll on the landscape. In 1960, it had no Policy (PLC) is collaborating with The Nature metropolitan areas with populations over 10 Conservancy’s China program (TNC China), million. Now it has 15. In 50 years, the urban providing technical support for a sponge city pilot population multiplied by a factor of six: from 131 in Shenzhen and exploring innovative conserva- million residents or 17.9 percent of total popula- tion finance mechanisms for China. tion in 1966, to 781 million or 56.7 percent by The two organizations are complementary in 2016 (World Bank 2017). And by 2030, one billion terms of expertise: TNC China has done a lot of people, or 70 percent of China’s total population, ground work to turn sciences and technologies are expected to live in cities (Myers 2016). into practice. With the Lincoln Institute providing Resulting proliferation of hardscaped roads and The Nature Conservancy China is working in Sichuan Province an international knowledge base, the PLC can building sites have created a vast expansion of to conserve giant panda habitat. Credit: Oktay Ortakcioglu 22 LAND LINES OCTOBER 2017 23 This storm event and other recent floods paving technologies, and rain gardens to absorb China’s sponge cities will spurred the Chinese government to develop storm water into the ground. The government will include green infrastruc- ture such as this wetland a series of “sponge cities.” Shenzhen and test the results of the pilot projects with the intention of replicating proven-effective practic- park in Tianjin, which collects rainwater to 29 other cities received instructions and es on a nationwide basis. irrigate vegetation on the By the government’s definition, a city will incentives to develop green infrastructure— site of a former garbage reach the “sponge” standard when 70 percent of including bioswales, pervious paving technol- dump. Credit: Kongjian Yu rainfall is absorbed into the ground, relieving ogies, and rain gardens to absorb storm strain on traditionally constructed drainage water into the ground. systems and minimizing floods. The goal is that 20 percent of urban built-up areas in pilot cities will reach sponge standard over the course of five years. Green Roof Rainwater TNC China is the key partner and technical Garden Bioretention adviser to Shenzhen’s sponge city project. TNC Facility invited the PLC and several other institutions to Forest Wetland Transparent Ground Surface join the effort, providing insight on policy, Lake strategy, and finance. The pilot demonstration project in Shenzhen includes four components: pilot demonstration sub-projects for industrial “We are investigating other countries’ for local communities and creating a mechanism plants, office buildings, schools, urban neighbor- experiences with financing rainstorm manage- to finance long-term reserve management hoods, etc.; dissemination and upgrading of past ment,” says Liu. “For example, the city of Phila- through private contributions. We believe that experiments; an education and promotion delphia imposes storm water fees based on the this new model could become an important campaign; and studies of strategy, policy, and amount of impervious surface that a parcel supplement to China’s current protected area financing mechanisms. contains. The city also offers several programs to system,” says Science Director of TNC China, Dr. “Our work on the sponge city strategy, policy, assist nonresidential customers to lower their Jin Tong. Building on this successful experience Rainwater Recycling and finance is currently underway,” says Liu. “We storm water fees through green projects that and taking advantage of access to international have looked extensively into relevant internation- reduce the amount of impervious surface on their knowledge through the International Land al experiences from the United States, Germany, properties. In the context of China, we believe Conservation Network (ILCN), a project of the Lin- the Netherlands, Singapore, and other countries. that the long-term financial solutions will require coln Institute, the PLC is exploring land conser- impervious surfaces that prevent storm water The sub-projects of the Shenzhen pilot demon- some careful consideration of fiscal policy reform vation finance for China more broadly. from seeping into the earth to replenish ground stration give us a great sense of which technolo- at the local level,” he says. Land trusts are an American innovation. As water sources and mitigate the threat of major gies are most feasible, as well as their benefits chaitable organizations, land trusts leverage the flooding. In recent years, increasingly severe and costs,” he adds. Nature Sanctuaries and Land power of the private and nonprofit sectors to storms and other surface water running at street The major challenge is how to develop conserve land by acquiring it outright, and level in Chinese cities have presented life-threat- long-term financial mechanisms for sponge city Trust Reserves owning title or fee ownership to it; by acquiring ening peril to urban residents, such as the 2012 development. Sponge infrastructure is costly, conservation easements, also known as conser- flood in Beijing that killed 79 and caused RMB estimated at over RMB 100 million (US$15.08 TNC China is also active in the conservation of vation restrictions or conservation servitudes; or 11.64 billion (US$1.76 billion) in damages, million) per square kilometer of built-up urban resources beyond China’s cities. In the past by serving as the stewards or managers of according to Xinhua News Agency. area. It is a public good in nature. The question several years, TNC China has adapted the protected lands owned by others. Indeed, about This storm event and other recent floods is who will pay for it. Today, Shenzhen’s sponge American land trust model to local conditions 56 million U.S. acres (about 23 million hectares) spurred the Chinese government to announce a city project is supported by central government to protect land, biodiversity habitat, and ecosys- have been protected in the United States by national program to develop a series of “sponge subsidies, the municipal budget, and businesses tem services, from air and water purification local, regional, and national land trusts as of cities.” Shenzhen in the Pearl River Delta and 29 volunteering to build sponge infrastructure to flood and drought mitigation. “We’ve been year-end 2015, according to the 2015 Land Trust other cities, from Wuhan in Central China to facilities, such as rain gardens and rain roofs testing this localized land trust model as a way Census compiled by the Land Trust Alliance in Baotou in Inner Mongolia (Leach 2016), received on their own properties. But the available to expand society’s ability to protect and sustain- cooperation with the Lincoln Institute of Land instructions and incentives to develop green financial resources are far from adequate to ably manage China’s most important lands