Because of massive urban expansion in China during the past three decades, China is confronted with a major challenge on how to wisely manage water within a complex urban system. An integrated water systems approach will be presented for tackling tough urbanization problems, such as waterlogging, black and odorous water, and ecosystem degradation within a large urban region. Specifically, the important city of Wuhan, located in the central Chinese province of Hubei, and having an area of 229 km2, is used as a case study due to widespread degradation which has intensified during the past twenty years. The presentation will focus on three main topics:
- Urban water issues and Sponge City construction in China.
- Urban hydrological attributes.
- Urban integrated water systems methodology.
The key advantage of employing an integrated systems procedure will be explained for resolving urban water problems through Sponge City construction.