The godfather of the "sponge cities" concept is Peking University landscape architecture professor Yu Kongjian, who almost drowned in a flooded river as a child, but managed to pull himself to safety by grabbing hold of the willow branches and reeds that fringed its banks. In 2013, as an urban designer, he proposed that cities use nature rather than concrete to slow down heavy rain – an idea now being implemented in cities across China and gaining attention around the world.
