Understanding the challenges for the governance of China’s “sponge cities” initiative to sustainably manage urban stormwater and flooding

China is a country with severe water problems. In recent years, urban flooding has become even more frequent, pervasive and severe, threatening China’s development. To tackle the issue, China launched a policy initiative termed sponge cities with enormous investment commitment. Yet, China’s ambitious policy agenda is constrained by limited governance capacity and lack of knowledge and experience needed to pursue sustainable urban stormwater management with rising sophistication and complexity. Marking a fundamental shift in water management, this initiative can be an effective approach if China commits to appropriate technical, governance and financial measures to overcome implementation challenges.