Here are a couple examples of water-sensitive urban design. First, Bangkok is not doing it right. The city is sinking a shocking 3 to 4 inches per year. The article conflates urban flash flooding with river and coastal flooding, but either way getting lower can’t be good.

Meanwhile, China supposedly is doing it right, building “sponge cities” with political and financial support from the central government. I’m a little skeptical of the public relations campaign after my time in Asia. Still, political and financial support for urban water management are in short supply here in the United States, so I can’t exactly take the moral high ground.