Sponge cities that fight flooding. Sponge cities use natural features to slow down, soak up and reuse flood water.

Change, Cities, Climate Change, Earth, Public Spaces, Water A recipient of Doctor of Design at Harvard GSD, Yu is Professor and founding dean of Peking University College of Architecture and Landscape, founder and design principle of Turenscape that practices globally. He is a strong advocate of “ecological security patterns” and “sponge cities” that have been adopted by the Chinese government for the nationwide ecological campaign. His projects have won numerous international design awards including 14 ASLA Excellence and Honor Awards (American Society of Landscape Architects), 5 WAF Best Landscape of the Year Award (World Archi. Festival). He was elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects. He is a recipient of the Doctor Honoris Causa from Sapienza University of Rome and Honorary Doctorate from Norwegian University of Life Sciences. He received the 2020 IFLA Sir Geffrey Jellico Award -- the highest honor given by the International Federation of Landscape Architects, and the 2021 John Cobb Common Good Award This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx