Jinhua, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/WeChat account: jhfabu]
Jinhua, East China's Zhejiang province, recently made the second list of 25 demonstration cities for promoting the construction of so-called sponge cities during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), making it the only city in the province to make the list.
A sponge city is a new-generation urban rainwater management concept, wherein a city can function like a sponge and flexibly adapt to environmental changes and respond to natural disasters caused by torrential rain.
In the next three years, Jinhua will receive 900 million yuan ($133.64 million) in central financial subsidies, as well as city-level overall planning of financial funds and social capital support, to carry out 100 "sponge city" projects to a high standard.
The construction of a sponge city will be regarded as the top priority in the development of a national-level ecological civilization demonstration city, and efforts will be made to develop Jinhua into a domestic first-class sponge demonstration city.
Jinhua is one of the first cities in China to try to develop into a sponge city, and the city has been comprehensively promoting related work. With a total investment of about 10.8 billion yuan, the city has already completed 154 sponge city construction projects. Statistics show that 34.6 square kilometers in Jinhua's urban area meet sponge city construction standards – accounting for 31 percent of the built-up area.
Since 2015, Jinhua has issued more than 20 supporting policies and implementation opinions on sponge city construction, compiled 16 related plans, including special planning for sponge city construction, formulated six technical standards in line with the characteristics of Jinhua's micro-hill landform, and explored special management methods to avoid direct sewage discharge. The city has established the nearly whole-process management and control system of a sponge city.
