Berlin is Becoming a Sponge City
Berlin is becoming a "Sponge City" designed to tackle two issues - heat and flooding - by imitating nature. Video by Gloria Kurnik https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2017-08-18/sponge-city-mak...
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Cities are concrete, glass and steel - they look and act un-naturally -absorbing heat and repelling water.Our urban spaces are at odds with the natural environment.But, in parts of the German capital things are different.To deal with rainwater and heat, Berlin is being transformed into what’s called a Sponge CityCarlo Becker is the architect of Berlin’s Sponge City strategy… which harnesses rainwaterand manages heat.In a natural ecosystem, rainwater is soaked up by soil and vegetation,the majority then evaporates and the rest filters deeper into the ground.The evaporating water then cools the surroundings.Cities disrupt this system.Water can’t soak through the concrete and is piped away.The Sponge City strategy aims to keep rainwater where it lands, to imi...
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Cities are concrete, glass and steel - they look and act un-naturally -absorbing heat and repelling water.Our urban spaces are at odds with the natural environment.But, in parts of the German capital things are different.To deal with rainwater and heat, Berlin is being transformed into what’s called a Sponge CityCarlo Becker is the architect of Berlin’s Sponge City strategy… which harnesses rainwaterand manages heat.In a natural ecosystem, rainwater is soaked up by soil and vegetation,the majority then evaporates and the rest filters deeper into the ground.The evaporating water then cools the surroundings.Cities disrupt this system.Water can’t soak through the concrete and is piped away.The Sponge City strategy aims to keep rainwater where it lands, to imi...
