Ph.D.of Architecture / Focused on Landscape Architecture
Assessing Public Perception of Green Stormwater Infrastructure in Chinese Sponge Cities
Co-advised by Dr. Hong Wu, Stuart Echols, Daniel Brent, Robert Chiles, Matthew Royer
Project Statement
Flooding and water quality challenges have become a severe issue for Chinese cities. A Sponge City Development (SCD) initiative was launched five years ago to solve these challenges. Like many other places worldwide, cities in China have adopted Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) such as rain gardens and bioswales as key strategies to restore the hydrological cycle, mitigate flooding, and reduce stormwater pollution. However, despite the concentrated efforts to improve the environmental functions of GSI, little research has been done to understand the public perceptions and perceived social benefits of GSI. To fill this knowledge gap, this study uses in-depth expert interviews, public surveys, and document analysis to capture perceptions of GSI, and develop a social benefits framework. This study fills a significant gap in the literature regarding the social performance of GSI during China’s SCD. The public attitudes and preferences of GSI drawn from this study can help identify areas of improvement in the planning and design of GSI, providing guidance for both policymakers and design professionals for their future practice. Moreover, this study will reveal the potentially varied perspectives from the key stakeholders and the public. Reconciliation among these differences will inform better policies to improve nation-wide GSI implementation that achieves both environmental and social goals.
