Integrated and Sustainable Approaches to Address City Inundation in China

Abstract

Each year, many Chinese cities are inundated with water and this results in substantial losses (people, infrastructure, etc.) and environmental challenges to the state and its residents. The subsequent reaction to this problem largely focuses on the inefficiencies of the cities’ sewer systems, which is depicted as ‘the conscience of the city’ in Hugo’s (1862) novel ‘Les Miserables.’ This idea of blaming inefficient sewer systems for a city’s inundation troubles is exploited by many critics in China. However, Hugo’s emphasis on poor sewer management as the principle cause of inundation and his subsequent advocating for the construction of a ‘Paris-style’ sewer are poles apart from addressing the problem of city inundation. This chapter contributes to the debate about wastewater management through the case study of the City of Jiaonan in China. We find that given the exponential urbanization experienced by China, when making efforts to address city inundation, sustainable approaches in urban stormwater management should be taken, instead of relying solely on engineering technologies. With China’s rapid urbanization as a result of its population and economic growth over the decades, urban infrastructure such as water distribution, wastewater treatment and sewer systems needs to be much more adequate and efficient, particularly stormwater management infrastructure. In many Chinese cities, the stormwater management infrastructure has been constructed many years ago and is deteriorating fast. Therefore, there is an urgent need for government strategies in support of redesigning or upgrading current facilities. This needs massive capital investment and is also time-consuming. To keep the ever-expanding cities running, it has become common practice in China to simply add new segments of infrastructure to the already existing system. This study outlines a sustainability strategy model for urban stormwater management, and its findings encourage policy makers to adopt sustainable and integrated approaches toward urban stormwater management while quality economic growth is sustained.