Green infrastructure minimizes flood risk

Recent storms in China affecting especially cities along the Yangtze River and even in the northern part of the country show current water engineering approaches are not offering enough protection from flooding disasters. It is both the failure of local flood defense systems and the lack of effective river-basin-wide management that amplify flood disasters.

Indeed, around the world, people have started realizing that cities need to reinvent themselves if they are to become resilient to the effects of climate change, including flooding and water shortages.

China has a long tradition of mastering water engineering, yet the systems and standards used today in the form of concrete walls and stone dykes along rivers, and drainage pipes under roads have been failing us all too often. Even if such walls and dykes are raised, or more systems like deep tunnels are built, this "gray infrastructure" may not be able to effectively protect urban areas. Climate change and climate variability will likely bring more severe storms.