Prominent Chinese landscape architect Kongjian Yu, the visionary behind the globally influential “sponge city” concept, was killed in a small plane crash in Brazil on September 23, 2025. The tragedy occurred near Aquidauana in the Pantanal wetlands—a region increasingly vulnerable to climate extremes—and claimed the lives of three others, including two filmmakers and the pilot.
Who Was Kongjian Yu?
Kongjian Yu was a leading figure in ecological urbanism and the founder of Turenscape, one of the world’s largest landscape architecture firms based in Beijing. He pioneered the “sponge city” model—a nature-based approach to urban water management that has been adopted in over 30 Chinese cities and inspired climate-resilient planning worldwide .
Yu’s philosophy centered on working with water, not against it. In a 2024 interview with The New York Times, he described his approach as “doing tai chi with water”—a metaphor for redirecting rather than resisting natural forces .
What Is a Sponge City?
A sponge city is an urban design strategy that uses green infrastructure—such as permeable pavements, rain gardens, constructed wetlands, and green roofs—to absorb, store, filter, and reuse rainwater. This reduces flooding, recharges groundwater, and enhances biodiversity.
Core Components of Sponge Cities
- Permeable surfaces that allow water infiltration
- Urban wetlands and bioswales for natural filtration
- Green roofs and vertical gardens to capture rainfall
- Underground storage systems for drought resilience
- Restored natural waterways instead of concrete channels
Yu’s Final Mission: Bringing Sponge Cities to Brazil
Yu had traveled to Brazil to speak at the CAU 2025 International Conference in Brasília (September 4–6), themed “Architecture and Urbanism for All,” and later attended an expo in São Paulo . There, he advocated for sponge city principles as a solution to Brazil’s worsening climate challenges.
During his visit, he met with local officials and expressed optimism about Brazil’s potential: “I see Brazil as the last hope for saving the planet,” he said .
Just days before the crash, Yu posted a video excitedly discussing how to transform a São Paulo canal into a “sponge” to mitigate flash floods—a growing threat in Latin America’s largest city.
Why Brazil’s Pantanal Matters
The crash site lies in the Pantanal, the world’s largest tropical wetland, spanning Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay. Once a natural “sponge” itself, the region is now suffering from severe droughts, wildfires, and habitat loss due to climate change .
| Climate Impact on the Pantanal (2020–2025) | Consequence |
|---|---|
| 2020 Fires | 30% of biome destroyed |
| 2024 Wildfires | 1.3–1.5 million hectares burned—16x worse than prior years |
| Projected Habitat Loss by 2100 | Up to 85% for native species like frogs |
| Hydrological Shifts | Longer dry seasons, reduced flooding cycles |
Turenscape’s Global Legacy
Through Turenscape, Yu led over 200 projects that reimagined urban landscapes as living ecosystems. Notable works include:
- Qunli National Urban Wetland (Harbin) – Turned a dying wetland into a stormwater park
- Tianjin Qiaoyuan Wetland Park – Restored degraded land into a biodiversity hotspot
- Shenzhen Mixiang Lake Area – Created an “Urban Oasis” integrating water management and public space
Yu’s vision: Cities that breathe, absorb, and heal—just like nature.
Relevance for North American Cities
As cities from Miami to Vancouver face intensifying floods and heatwaves, Yu’s sponge city model offers a scalable blueprint. Unlike traditional “gray infrastructure” (concrete drains and levees), green infrastructure provides co-benefits: cooler temperatures, cleaner air, and recreational spaces.
U.S. cities like Philadelphia and Portland have already implemented similar green stormwater programs—though not yet at the systemic scale Yu championed in China .
For more on sustainable urban design, explore our guide to [INTERNAL_LINK:climate-resilient-cities].
Conclusion: A Vision Cut Short
Kongjian Yu’s death is a profound loss for the global environmental design community. At a time when climate adaptation is urgent, his work reminded us that resilience lies in harmony with nature—not domination over it.
