cities set to deal with flooding

Spongy cities - Auckland is an example.

snip

...

A winter storm swept through the city overnight, dropping heavy rain, and Te Auaunga (Oakley Creek), one of the city’s longest urban streams, has overflowed its banks.

"But that’s supposed to happen," says Julie Fairey, chair of the Puketāpapa local board, who is showing me around Underwood and the neighbouring Walmsley Park.

The connected parks are designed to collect excess stormwater, soak it up like a sponge, and slowly release it back into the creek. The debris left behind is evidence this "secret infrastructure" is working, Fairey says. The two parks are flanked on both sides by public housing developments. "This stuff is designed to flood so that the houses don’t," she says.

...