The fight against rising waters is an existential one for China’s economic heart of Shanghai.
Its low-lying geography has made it uniquely vulnerable to rising sea levels and periodic flooding.
A 2012 study found that it was the most vulnerable of nine cities around the world built on river deltas, partly because the authorities had invested less in flood protection than counterparts in Osaka and Rotterdam.
A masterplan unveiled last year (2018) is the city’s first that prioritises environmental protection, stating the need for the authorities to respond to rising sea levels through greater use of “sponge city” techniques.
Sponge cities help withstand flooding and rising sea levels by making areas better able to absorb rain and floodwaters.
The city also spent four billion yuan (S$782 million) on completing a 174km-long dam wall in Jinshan district last year.
Professor Siyuan Xian, a visiting research fellow with the Wharton Risk Centre, said that decades of economic growth gave it the finances necessary to pursue large-scale flood protection projects. Moreover, the central and local governments are aligned, allowing them to achieve consensus on extensive efforts needed to protect the city.
There are signs that the measures are working. When Super Typhoon Lekima caused parts of Shanghai to flood, the waters subsided much more quickly than previously, say local reports.
But some experts want officials to better factor in the effects of climate change on sea levels. Researchers fear that half of the city’s sea walls and levees could be breached by the year 2100.
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Source: The Straits Times, 26 August 2019