China's sponge city development for urban water resilience and sustainability: A policy discussion

China recently introduced a national policy initiative called sponge city development as a holistic, ecosystem-based approach integrated with urban planning and development to address storm-induced pluvial flooding as well as other urban water and environmental issues. The initiative, while following the U.S. low impact development with a concept also similar to the U.K. sustainable drainage systems and Australian water sensitive cities, is subject to a major design issue in practice with infrastructure projects of similar types adopted unanimously across regions despite spatially diverse and heterogeneous hydrological and biophysical conditions. The ecosystem services framework as applied to the urban setting, particularly its holistic consideration of ecosystem structure and management intervention in relation to services or benefits delivery, can and should guide the planning, design, development, and evaluation of relevant projects or nature-based practices for carrying out the policy initiative, a perspective of practical value with foreseeable transformative impact that has received little recognition in China's current green urban movement toward water resilience and sustainability. [Display omitted] •China faces rising urban flooding resulted from urbanization and climate change.•Sponge city concept is introduced to holistically manage urban water and development.•China's initiative is subject to a design issue challenging implementation and efficacy.•Urban ecosystem service framework can and should guide sponge city implementation.