Urban flooding is a major problem for large cities around the world. Rapid urbanization in China has tremendously increased, resulting in more frequent incidences of urban flooding. In 2013, China launched a program of 30 pilot sponge cities (SPCs) to establish integrated urban stormwater management. However, today, after several years of implementation, some sponge cities still experience flooding. This study provides answers and solutions to these problems, by evaluating the overall performance of SPC in China from a systematic perspective considering the variable climatic conditions. This paper also highlights the limitations associated with implementing the current SPC. The adoption of overseas models, before adhering them to Chinese catchment properties, has generated significant uncertainty for simulation outputs and material provision challenges at various stages of the implementation process. Furthermore, hydrological connectivity between neighboring catchments has been neglected in most SPC projects. Developing local models based on local conditions and needs would address these issues and open new research windows for exploring more effective stormwater management initiatives. That includes the advancement of cost-effective evaluation studies, modern optimum efficiency design studies, and the analysis of groundwater contamination due to high infiltration rates and so on.

Clarifying the factors that influence land surface temperature (LST) is crucial for proposing specific LST mitigation strategies. This article focuses on the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) region and investigates the LST influencing factors of various local climate zone (LCZ) built types from perspectives of urban morphology, land cover, and human activity. The results suggest that the areas of urban LCZ built types vary across cities within the BTH region, attributed to differences in city size and gross domestic product (GDP). The area of urban LCZ built types in Beijing and Tianjin, cities with significantly high city sizes and GDP, exceeds 2000 km ² . In contrast, in Qinhuangdao, Zhangjiakou, and Chengde, which have relatively low GDP, this area is less than 500 km ² . However, the main LST influencing factors for the same LCZ built type across cities are highly consistent. Building coverage ratio (BCR), average building height (ABH), and pervious surface fraction (PSF) are the three most important factors. The correlation between BCR and LST is mainly concentrated on compact high-rise and open high-rise types, with Pearson correlation coefficient ( r ) ranging from 0.2 to 0.44; the correlation between ABH and LST is mainly concentrated on compact high-rise, compact mid-rise, open high-rise, and open mid-rise types, with r ranging from −0.2 to −0.52; the correlation between PSF and LST is concentrated on almost all LCZ built types in cities within the BTH region, with r ranging from −0.2 to −0.56. By integrating these findings with the features of each LCZ built type within the BTH region, the specific LST mitigation strategies were further proposed. This article can help to develop specific LST mitigation strategies within the context of coordinated development of the BTH region, thereby promoting healthy and sustainable development in the region.

To date, studies of outdoor thermal comfort (OTC) have focused primarily on physical factors, tending to overlook the relevance of individual adaptation to microclimate parameters through psychological and physiological behaviors. These adaptations can significantly affect the use of urban and outdoor spaces. The study presented here investigated these issues, with a view to aiding sustainable urban development. Measurements of OTC were taken at a university campus and in urban spaces. Simultaneously, a large-scale survey of thermal adaptability was conducted. Two groups were selected for investigation in a cold-winter-and-hot-summer (CWHS) region; respondents came from humid subtropical (Cfa) and hot desert (BWh) climates, according to the Köppen Climate Classification (KCC). Results showed that: (1) neutral physiological equivalent temperature (NPET) and preferred PET for people from the Cfa (PCfa) and BWh (PBWh) groups could be obtained with KCC; (2) PCfa adaptability behaviors were, subjectively, more adjustable than PBWh; (3) Clothing affected neutral temperature (NT), where NT reduced by approximately 0.5 °C when clothing insulation rose 0.1 Clo; and (4) Gender barely affected thermal acceptance vote (TAV) or thermal comfort vote (TCV) and there was a substantial relationship between thermal sensation, NT, and PET. These findings suggest ‘feels like’ temperature and comfort may be adjusted via relationships between microclimate parameters.