Guangzhou will build a 1,461.8 sq km "sponge city" by 2030, the city government announced Thursday. Sponge city refers to a city with good "elasticity" in adapting to environmental changes and coping with natural disasters brought by rain. It absorbs, stores, seeped and purified water when it rains, and "releases" and uses the stored water when needed.

On the same day, the executive meeting of the Guangzhou Municipal government reviewed and approved the Guangzhou Sponge City Special Plan, which said that by 2030, more than 80% of the built-up area of the city should meet the standards by adopting measures such as "net, storage, stagnation, seepage, use and drainage".

The plan also puts forward the concepts of "large sponge", "medium sponge" and "small sponge". It constructs the natural ecological spatial pattern of sponge city based on ecological corridors and ecological infrastructure, and forms "large sponge". Pipe network system and green sponge system (namely "sponge body") combined to ensure urban water safety; Scattered construction of sponge facilities (namely "small sponge bodies") to control the surface runoff of the new city and protect the water ecology.      

During the construction of the planned new urban area in Guangzhou, the green sponge system such as water corridor, wetland patch and low-impact ecological facilities is planned and designed simultaneously. The old city focuses on solving problems such as urban waterlogging, black and smelly water, and improving and restoring water ecology and environment by constructing green infrastructure.