1. Designing Sponge Cities for multiple benefits: integrating nature-based solutions to create sustainable places (DeSCIPHER)
Main case study
CEH (Europe lead: Mike Hutchins), University of Surrey, NIVA, University of Oslo, CAS Institute of Urban Environment (Xiamen) (China lead: Shen Yu), Tsinghua University (Beijing), Earthwatch

2. Sponge Cities: a major recent Chinese initiative
Sponge Cities: Replacing impermeable surfaces with wetlands, green rooftops and rain gardens means stormwater is absorbed back into the land, making water work for the city instead of against it
Bicester: 1980s district
Bicester: 2010s district
Flooded street, Wuhan.
Photo: AFP/Getty
Terminology:
Nature-Based Solutions (NBS)
Green Infrastructure
Low Impact Development
Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems
Permeable pavements, Lingang.
Photo: Helen Roxburgh

3. wider hinterland, airshed, downstream …
Bringing it all together: multi-domain framework
How do changes in climate and societal drivers affect the co- benefits and trade- offs between a range of environmental quality indicators arising from implementing NBS?
Heat
Noise
Evaluating NBS at a range of scales
Air quality
Soil quality
local
neighbourhood
Water quality
Green space access
whole city
wider hinterland, airshed, downstream …
Flood risk
Environmental quality indicators
Biodiversity

4. Public use of urban parks; and business engagement
Use of social media and other volunteered geographic information…
…urban green space:
1) map its use
2) identify how to improve equitable access.
How can business innovation be incentivised to provide or contribute to NBS?

5. Expected results
A tool for assessing co-benefits and trade-offs arising from NBS implementation.
Definition of how environmental impacts at larger scales inform the choice of solutions adopted in urban areas
Evidence-based recommendations on design criteria and management strategies - to be applied when developing NBS to optimise co-benefits

6. Previous work: ecosystem services
1. Atmospheric chemistry transport models calculate health benefits of urban vegetation via pollution removal
2. Spatial models calculate which houses benefit from noise reduction by trees
3. Riparian shade: shade maps from canopy surface models enable simulation of water quality benefits (cooler water and suppressed eutrophication)
Reduces upper quartile temperature by 1.1 ⁰C in River Thames, UK.
e.g. vegetation benefits

7. Natural source Vehicle exhaust Coal combustion
Thank you!
DeSCIPHER
Designing Sponge Cities through Innovation, Policy, Health and Environmental Research
Example of previous work:
Lead in sediment cores along an urban gradient: 5 sites in Shanghai:
Urban core …. developed …. developing
Natural source Vehicle exhaust Coal combustion