Design with stormwater : landscape of integrated LID in Chinese high-density residential development

Abstract

Stormwater flooding problems become more and more serious in China recently. Besides the effects of global warming, the deficiency of conventional storm drain system can’t be neglected. This thesis is aiming to analyze the potential problems of existing municipal drainage infrastructure, introduce a more advanced alternative -- Low Impact Development (LID) to deal with urban stormwater management in residential development, which is a soft approach favoring natural way of treatment. LID as a solution not only reduce the pressure in drainage pipes during flood peak, but can also supplement underground water ecologically, which could positively protect precious water resources in China. Since urbanization is extremely rapid in China, if not understanding the fundamental reason, solely depending on increasing the diameters of drainage pipes will never catch up the speed of runoff that generated by impervious area, which resulting from more and more surface runoff being circulated and centralized to the storm drain system in a shorter and shorter time. The objective of this thesis is to let authority and public recognize the fundamental reason of this problem and at the same time realize the benefits of LID. Moreover, provide a residential landscape design that integrated LID within Chinese specific urban context as an alternative.