How Asia's 5,000-year-old rice terraces are inspiring modern flood control

Frankfurt is changing the way it designs its buildings to adapt to extreme heat. The city works with urban climatology researchers to ensure new housing and skyscrapers won’t impact the wind corridors that keep residents cool, and it promotes practices like installing green roofs.

Resiliency parks in Hoboken, New Jersey, look like typical playgrounds and basketball courts. Unlike the average park, they have discrete drains and sit on top of underground tanks that prevent flooding by holding millions of gallons of rainwater.

The city of Copenhagen uses a combination of green and gray infrastructure for flood prevention. It installed more plants, ponds with pumping systems, and green roofs to collect rainfall along with a giant underground tunnel system and walls that close off areas of the city to store water.

A cooperative in Switzerland is building sustainable apartments using recycled materials and green building practices to create carbon-neutral communal living spaces. These “cluster apartments” cut down on living space per person and save energy.

Cities and neighborhoods around the world are trying to transform into sponge cities to soak up enough rainwater to prevent flooding. They’re doing so by ripping up asphalt and concrete, replacing it with nature-based solutions like native plants and parks.

After experiencing extreme flooding, Hoboken, New Jersey, has reduced its flood risk by rebuilding its sewers to add capacity and designing new infrastructure, like parks, to collect and redirect storm water.

The concept of “sponge cities” is taking off as a way to prevent flooding. This style of urban design focuses on creating environments that absorb more water with plants and open ground as opposed to pipes and concrete.

The startup Rapid Radicals uses a chemical process to treat sewage much quicker than the typical biological process. It hopes to use the technology to reduce the sewage released into local lakes and rivers in Milwaukee when the system is overwhelmed by rain or snowmelt.

The Center for Neighborhood Technology’s RainReady program is creating flood mitigation projects most suitable for Illinois communities in need by ensuring community members have input. The program designs nature-based solutions, like widening creeks and installing rain gardens, based on demographics and flood data. And community committees are involved throughout.

Los Angeles organizations and neighborhoods are teaming up to create Green Alleys that mitigate flooding. These alleys consist of permeable pavement and native plants and trees that all help direct water underground, as well as streetlights and murals that make them welcoming community spaces.