Since piloting the national program on sponge city construction in 2016, Qingdao has been accelerating the construction of a sponge city by trial and error and in all respects. By the end of 2023, Qingdao had boasted a cumulative about 290 square kilometers area which can meet the sponge city construction criteria. 15 square kilometers will be newly added this year.

By incorporating the concept of sponge cities into urban planning and construction, Qingdao has put in place a citywide three-tiered sponge city planning system, namely “special planning-detailed planning-systemic solutions”, and integrated in an organic manner the sponge city construction with the renovation of old residential communities and urban renewal to meet the needs of people’s livelihood to its best capacity. Qingdao has taken sponge measures in a number of park and greenbelt projects, upgraded and rebuilt the existing urban green spaces in all respects, used rejuvenated water from sewage treatment plants in water replenishment and ecological rehabilitation projects, and integrated the rainfall-flood utilization system, the biological habitat system, the bazaar culture system and the healthy greenway system to compose an ecological infrastructure to address urban water environment problems in a comprehensive manner. In the future, Qingdao will continue to coordinate efforts to advance the sponge city construction throughout the city and take a holistic approach to improve its urban attractiveness. (Wang Bingjie)

The Qingdao Licang Culture Park after sponge reconstruction.