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Episode details

World Service,19 Apr 2022,23 mins

Sponge cities that fight flooding

People Fixing The World

Available for over a year

Sponge cities use natural features to slow down, soak up and reuse flood water. Yu Kongjian nearly drowned as a boy when his village flooded, but it inspired him to come up with the sponge city concept. It’s now being rolled out across China. In Singapore too, parks and lakes are being engineered to soak up excess water. They embrace the flood water rather than block it with concrete barriers. It comes as cities around the world are struggling to cope with more extreme weather caused by climate change. Presenter: Myra Anubi Reporter: Tessa Wong Producer: Claire Bates Image: Zhejiang, China (Turenscape)

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