Previously, when rainstorms hit, residents watched the sea from their homes. Now, after engineering renovations, ordinary green spaces, gardens, reservoirs, and roads can become sponges, retaining and utilizing rainwater to prevent flood disasters. On the 5th, a Southern Metropolis Daily reporter visited Tenghuyuan Community in Baiteng Community, Doumen District, Zhuhai City, and found that the first batch of sponge city projects combined with old residential area renovation have started construction. 250 households can move into new homes before the Chinese New Year. According to a responsible person from the Doumen District Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau of Zhuhai City, Doumen will next promote the construction of 86 sponge city projects with a total investment of 3.12 billion yuan, striving to have 20% of the built-up area in Doumen District meet sponge city construction requirements by 2020.


　　Challenge: Old communities transformed into new homes

　　11 years ago, Aunt Chen moved from her hometown in Chongqing to Zhuhai and settled in Tenghuyuan Community, Baiteng Community, Doumen. However, she did not expect that this area has more extreme weather and, combined with special geological structures, problems such as settlement and waterlogging occur from time to time.

　　"Whenever it rains, the water rises 30-40 cm. It is a well-known dirty and messy community nearby," Aunt Chen told the reporter. Due to the low-lying terrain, every time it rains, the ground is covered with puddles of various sizes. "Older people have to be extra careful when walking. Some families with better conditions have long bought new homes and moved out."

　　Last month, the construction team began renovating Tenghuyuan Community. Among them, the relatively unfamiliar term "sponge city" has gradually become familiar to residents.

　　The reporter recently visited the community and found that the entire exterior facade has been enclosed for construction. The original dilapidated mosaic wall surface has been chiseled off and painted with a brand-new coffee-colored wall, making the whole community look new. It is worth mentioning that a bioretention zone has been dug outside the community, with four layers of permeable layers laid successively. When it rains, rainwater will not stay on the ground but will flow into the municipal pipeline through the retention wells.

　　"It can be completed by the end of December at the earliest, meeting the standards for new home delivery, ensuring everyone can celebrate the New Year in their new homes," said a responsible person from the Doumen District Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau of Zhuhai City. For this construction, based on the experience of advanced sponge city areas, Doumen District was the first in Zhuhai to propose the "Sponge City+" concept. "Taking Tenghuyuan Community as an example, we also repaired damaged doors and windows for some residents free of charge and even hired security guards to patrol, so that residents can feel the benefits and actively participate in and cooperate with the promotion of sponge city construction."

　　Currently, Tenghuyuan has a total of 250 households, all included in the sponge city renovation. As another community in the first batch of sponge city+ pilots, Taiheyuan Community is also undergoing construction bidding and is expected to start construction soon. The total investment in the sponge city upgrade and renovation projects for the two communities amounts to 22 million yuan.

　　Big move: Huge investment in 86 projects

　　"Watching the sea" whenever it rains is a dilemma faced by many cities in recent years. Doumen also has problems of urban waterlogging and black and odorous water bodies, and there is an urgent need to improve the water ecological environment. How can waterlogging be effectively avoided? Doumen District has targeted sponge city construction, established a special leading group for sponge city work, and formed an organizational leadership structure in which the main leaders of the district government personally oversee, the responsible leaders specifically manage, and various departments closely cooperate to implement, with the heads of the main member units of the leading group in place.

　　With a total investment of 3.12 billion yuan, 86 sponge city projects will be promoted. According to relevant plans, the sponge city pilot area in Doumen District covers about 9.2 square kilometers and is divided into three major areas: the South Area (built-up area within the pilot area), the North Area (non-built-up area within the pilot area, currently fish ponds and farmland), and the Baiteng Mountain Area.

　　At the same time, work is carried out in five construction modes: 51 PPP mode development projects, 10 projects in cooperation with China Railway Construction Corporation, 7 government-invested projects, 6 social-invested projects, and 9 Baitengtou EPC mode projects. At present, 9 projects have started in the pilot area, with a completed investment of 61.27 million yuan.

　　Outside the sponge city pilot area, Doumen District is also actively carrying out black and odorous water body treatment and sponge city construction, promoting 3 projects with a total investment of 920 million yuan. Among them, the Jing'an urban waterlogging treatment project has an investment of 256 million yuan and is planned to be fully completed by the end of 2017; the Doumen Huangyang River Wetland Park project has started, with a total investment of 88.52 million yuan; the treatment of eight black and odorous water bodies, including Jizui Stream, Wufu Stream, Xinqingzheng Stream, Hehe Stream, Baitouweng Stream, Xiankeng River, Xinqing Industrial Flood Discharge Channel, and Shalong Stream, has a total investment of 580 million yuan, striving to completely eliminate black and odorous phenomena by the end of this year.

　　Highlight: First proposal of sponge city demonstration belt

　　86 sponge city projects with only more than a year of construction time left, and Doumen had no construction experience before. How can it take on the heavy responsibility? A responsible person from the Doumen District Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau of Zhuhai City said that in response to the lack of experience, they hired a technical team from the North China Municipal Engineering Design and Research Institute, which has experience in multiple sponge city technical services, to provide professional technical services. Currently, 12 technical personnel are stationed on site to provide technical services such as top-level design, daily technical support, and construction inspection guidance for sponge cities, ensuring that the design concepts and work plans are at the forefront of pilot cities.

　　"For 86 sponge city projects, going through the process for each project takes too long. Therefore, we propose to adopt the EPC mode for development and construction to create a 1.5-square-kilometer sponge city demonstration belt," the responsible person said. This can package the projects, save time, and accelerate project construction progress, forming a demonstration effect that spreads from point to area.

　　It is reported that the sponge city demonstration belt is the first of its kind in Zhuhai. In the first phase, it is planned to select a 0.56-square-kilometer area in the Baitengtou built-up area, north to Baiteng Lake, south to the Doumen District boundary, and east to the Niwanmen Waterway, to create a sponge city demonstration belt. There are 9 engineering projects with a total investment of 71.6 million yuan. In addition, it is planned to continue selecting different types of projects as boutique projects within the pilot area, promoting sponge city construction throughout Doumen District in a point-to-area combination manner.