A Comprehensive Conceptual Framework for the Sponge City Programme

Abstract

In China, most of the cities face significant challenges due to frequent and severe flooding, and rapid urbanisation and climate change aggravate these disasters. The Sponge City Programme (SCP) was introduced as a strategy to implement sustainable urban water management; however, its implementation continues to face significant challenges. Currently, there is a lack of a comprehensive framework that represents all the elements involved in the whole implementation process of SCP. Therefore, this study aims to fill this gap by presenting a framework that integrates findings from multiple Chinese cities from various phases of SCP. The proposed framework integrates key components of SCP, including outcomes, governance mechanisms, strategic interventions, stakeholders, and implementation processes, into a structured approach that highlights the programme’s intended benefits and the real-world challenges faced during implementation. It also reflects how these key components affect each other. This framework serves as a guide to understanding the complexities of SCP, providing valuable insights and identifying future research directions to enhance the performance of SCP. This study follows the methodology of conceptual framework analysis, develops through the analysis of related documents from various cities, such as local design guidelines, local plans, self-evaluation reports of SCP, and related research papers. Experts and practitioners involved in SCP are invited to revise the framework. Such approaches guarantee that the outcome precisely captures essential elements of SCP and fulfils the research objectives. This study provides a conceptual framework which represents the whole implementation process of SCP and serves as a basic tool for policymakers for future decision-making; it also helps to improve future SCP implementations in other cities.