News

The living legacy of Kongjian Yu: the architect of Sponge Cities

On the 23rd of this month, the world of architecture and sustainability lost one of its greatest visionaries: Kongjian Yu, creator of the Sponge Cities concept, passed away at the age of 62 in a tragic plane crash during a research trip to the Pantanal.

Yu was in Brazil to take part in the 14th São Paulo Architecture Biennial and to study the world’s largest floodplain. There, he sought what had always guided his work: the harmony between landscape, culture, and climate resilience.

From a Chinese Village to Harvard — and the World

Born in 1963 in the small village of Dong Yu, rural China, Kongjian Yu grew up surrounded by traditional agricultural wisdom. But his childhood was also marked by environmental traumas: pesticides that poisoned the local stream and the replacement of ancient irrigation networks with rigid gray infrastructure.

This contrast between nature’s wisdom and mankind’s destructive intervention shaped his entire philosophy.

A New Way of Thinking About Urbanism

Yu didn’t just want to design beautiful gardens. He wanted to save cities!

At Beijing Forestry University, and later at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, he developed the foundations of his radical critique of modern urbanism:

1. The Art of Survival

Landscape architecture as a tool to face crises such as floods, climate change, and food insecurity.

2. The Big Feet Revolution

A brilliant metaphor. While “small feet” represent ornamental, unproductive gardens, “big feet” stand for functional, resilient landscapes deeply connected to the land.

3. Negative Planning

Instead of building first and then squeezing nature into what’s left, Yu proposed the opposite: map the ecological structure first — rivers, forests, floodplains — and only then allow urban growth in the remaining spaces.

Sponge Cities as a “Response” to the 21st Century

His most impactful concept: Sponge Cities — an urban approach that mimics the natural water cycle.

Instead of pipes and concrete, the city should:

• Infiltrate: let water seep into the soil

• Retain: slow down runoff

• Store: hold water

• Purify: treat it naturally

• Reuse: make use of collected water

• Drain: release the excess in a controlled way

Technologies such as green roofs, permeable pavements, rain gardens, and constructed wetlands form a decentralized, resilient network — alive, adaptable, and beautiful.

In 2013, the Chinese government officially adopted the Sponge City policy. The goal: by 2030, 80% of urban areas should retain and reuse up to 70% of rainfall.

Projects That Inspire!

Some of Yu’s works have become global landmarks:

• Red Ribbon Park: a 500m-long red ribbon flowing through native vegetation — an example of minimal intervention, maximum impact.

• Qunli Stormwater Park: terraces designed to absorb floods, covered with adaptive vegetation.

• Zhongshan Shipyard Park: an abandoned shipyard transformed into a public park, preserving industrial structures as part of collective memory.

What Can We Learn from Kongjian Yu?

Yu’s passing is a profound loss, but his legacy is more necessary than ever.

He taught us that urban sustainability is not only technical — it is cultural, ethical, and above all, urgent.

At a time when the climate is changing faster than our cities can respond, it is time to learn from water — and from the man who dedicated his life to listening to it.

Opinion

Net Zero and Nature Positive: Either We Integrate Now, or We Fail Together

Net Zero means cutting emissions down to nearly zero. Nature Positive means restoring biodiversity. On their own, they are admirable but ineffective efforts. Together, they are the only possible strategic response to the environmental and economic crisis we face.

Climate and nature are not opposite sides of the problem. They are, in fact, two sides of the same coin. Degraded forests release carbon. Global warming undermines ecosystem health. Addressing one without the other is like mopping the floor with the fan on.

Reduce First, Offset Later

There’s still confusion between “carbon neutrality” and “Net Zero.” The former often leans on fragile compensations like carbon credits. Net Zero, as defined by the Science Based Targets initiative, is far more demanding: cutting emissions by at least 90% before even considering offsets.

Offsets are the last resort, not plan A.

This logic needs to reach the construction sector. Real reduction requires rethinking materials, methods, transport, and energy use. Offsetting later won’t solve the problem if we keep building with the same logic that created the crisis.

Nature Needs More Than “Less Impact”

The concept of Nature Positive is ambitious: by 2030, the planet must have more nature than it had in 2020, and by 2050, ecosystems must be well on their way to full recovery.

And it’s not enough to simply “stop destroying.” The path requires:

• Avoiding new environmental impacts;

• Reducing existing damage;

• Restoring degraded ecosystems;

• And only then, offsetting what’s truly unavoidable.

Unlike carbon, which can be measured in tons, nature is local, complex, and multifaceted. It requires specific, contextualized metrics that account for biodiversity, abundance, and ecosystem resilience.

Climate and Nature: Economic Risks and Massive Opportunities

Over 50% of global GDP depends directly on nature. That’s trillions of dollars tied to ecosystem services like pollination, water regulation, and climate stability. This means biodiversity loss is not just an ecological tragedy — it’s a systemic financial risk.

But there’s another side to the coin: the shift to a regenerative economy could create up to 395 million jobs and generate over $10 trillion per year by 2030.

This is where the construction sector becomes either a protagonist … or a villain.

What Does This Have to Do with Your Project?

Net Zero projects that ignore biodiversity may be technically efficient but ecologically disastrous. Imagine a wind farm that reduces emissions but destroys natural habitats in the process. That’s not a solution — it’s a poorly managed trade-off.

On the other hand, when you design with nature in mind, you turn challenges into solutions. Green roofs, water reuse, bioconstruction, low-impact materials, and the rehabilitation of degraded areas are strategies that deliver real co-benefits.

Obstacle Still Remains

Despite progress in commitments, implementation is lagging. One of the biggest risks is greenwashing: vague environmental promises, cheap offsets, and lack of transparency. This undermines trust and delays real change.

In response, frameworks like TNFD and SBTN are emerging to guide companies and governments in accurately measuring impacts and risks tied to nature. Yet serious challenges remain, such as lack of local data, complexity in measuring biodiversity, and even green hush — staying silent out of fear of criticism.

The Next Chapter: Nature Transition Plans

If your company or project is already talking about a carbon transition plan, get ready. The next step is even more demanding: developing Nature Transition Plans with goals, indicators, and actions to restore ecosystems affected by operations.

This shift is already happening in the financial sector. “Nature pricing” is gaining traction with tools like TNFD’s LEAP, and private investment in Nature Positive initiatives has grown from $9 billion to over $100 billion in just four years.

Conclusion

Separating the climate and nature agendas is a strategic mistake. If we want a future where economies and ecosystems thrive together, we need to design, build, and invest with a Net Zero + Nature Positive vision from the start.

It’s no longer a choice between being “sustainable” or “competitive.” Today, being regenerative is the only way to stay relevant.

So, will your next project regenerate — or just compensate?

UGREEN Mentorship

The Time Has Come to Design with Purpose. UGREEN’s Mentorship Is Where Your Transformation Begins!

Most of the cities we live in were built to withstand time, not to nurture life.

Environments that isolate nature, consume resources as if they were infinite, and ignore people’s real needs.

The result? Physical, mental, and ecological illness … and in the end, architecture no longer responds to the challenges of the 21st century.

The Impact Has Already Reached Your Projects

Now think: how many projects out there still follow this same path?

How many buildings have you seen (or maybe even worked on) that ignore simple, sustainable solutions just for lack of practical knowledge?

The truth is: architecture is outdated. And insisting on the same methods could cost us dearly — both for the planet and for our careers.

But what if there were a model that combined design with regeneration, technique with social impact, innovation with health?

The Alternative Already Exists — and It Starts Now

That’s exactly what the UGREEN Sustainable Architecture Mentorship 2.0 is all about.

In 4 live sessions (October 7–14–21–28), you’ll learn how to apply advanced concepts like biophilia, biomimicry, resilience, and social impact to real projects — based on international experiences such as Masdar City, The Line, and Medellín.

📆 The first session takes place this Tuesday, October 7

🎥 All classes are live, with recordings available to watch anytime.

🚀 And yes: there’s still time to join.