Case study: Diagnosing China's prevailing urban flooding—Causes, challenges, and solutions

Abstract

AbstractAccompanying its rapid urban development, prevalent urban flooding incidents have been occurring in China in the past two decades with increasing frequency. Through a comparison with generally accepted urban flooding management practices, we (the authors) identified that a lack of surface water runoff management considerations (i.e., missing a major drainage system in urban stormwater system) and inadequate local mitigation are the primary causes of urban flooding problems in China, which in turn is rooted in the planning stage of a city's development. Following identification of the primary causes for the problems, we propose the development of master drainage plans (MDPs) for the concerned cities or regions as the first effective step to mitigate the serious urban flooding problems facing many cities today. An MDP would provide necessary elements to develop a major drainage system for the city's stormwater system and allow for an accurate calculation of parameters necessary for installation of adequate local mitigations. Lessons learned in this study should be useful for China's administrative agencies and professionals while they try to find solutions to their urban flooding problems and beneficial to other nations facing rapid urban development in the future or with existing urban flooding threats.