sponge city
Americannoun
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sponge cities
plural
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a type of urban planning model which emphasizes the management of flooding and stormwater through green infrastructure.
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a city which uses an urban planning model emphasizing the management of flooding and stormwater through green infrastructure.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
By 2020, over 40,000 sponge city projects were completed nationwide, contributing to around 3.8 trillion gallons of rainwater being recycled that year, according to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2025
The floods prompted Chinese leader Xi Jinping to adopt Yu’s sponge city philosophy as a national agenda in 2015.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2025
The sponge city program was formally inaugurated by President Xi Jinping in 2015, with pilot projects in 16 Chinese cities, and has since expanded to more than 640 sites in 250 municipalities around the country.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 31, 2024
In 2015, China launched a "sponge city" pilot project to reduce water-logging and to prevent floods, with permeable asphalt and pavements among the potential technological solutions.
From Reuters ● Jul. 5, 2023
The approach is similar to the "sponge city" concept that is being rolled out in several Chinese cities, where floods could become something residents embrace rather than fear.
From BBC ● Nov. 12, 2021
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
