Strategies for Sustainable Stormwater Management in Urban Environments: Case examples from Asia

The rapid urbanization has laid a lot of stress on the water-based infrastructure of cities. The built environment is dominated by impervious landscapes of buildings and road networks. Cities tend to be supported by drainage systems which are unable to cater to the changing climatic conditions. The need for a shift from these outdated approaches to more nature-based solutions is most prominent for the current times and cannot be overlooked. Nature based solutions have shown tremendous benefits in enhancing biodiversity, resiliency and revitalising dilapidated landscapes. The intent of this paper is to give insights into the strategies applied for management and utilization of stormwater in Asian context which are predominantly nature based and have made the settlement more adaptable to climate change. The cases of Wuhan Sponge City, South Korea and Singapore were taken for the study for their adoption of integrated strategies within the local context and urban level to mitigate the challenges of urban flooding as a result of climate change.