As the capital of China, Beijing serves as the national political and cultural centre. During the past years, Beijing has been subject to extreme and unusual rainstorms, resulting in frequent waterlogging that had serious impacts on the safety of people and property as well as on normal production and living. The coinciding hazards of flooding and water shortages are seriously hampering sustainable development and have necessitated increasingly stringent requirements for urban flood management in Beijing City. The “Sponge City” concept has attracted considerable attention as a potential solution to the problems of flood management and water shortages in Chinese cities ever since it was first introduced in a speech delivered by Mr. Jinping Xi at a conference on urbanization. Beijing Normal University is responding to the national call to establish a sponge city laboratory to solve the problem of urban waterlogging and water shortages through a collaboration between the technical organization of urban planning and scientific research institutions in Beijing City, which is the first laboratory on urban hydrological cycle and sponge city technology within universities and colleges in China.

Several scientific research institutes are collaborating in the establishment of the Beijing Key Laboratory for Urban Hydrological Cycle and Sponge City Technology. These institutes include Beijing Normal University, Beijing Institute of Water Science and Technology, Beijing Municipal Institute of City Planning and Design, Beijing Hydrology Center, and Zhongguancun Sponge City Engineering Research Institute Co. Ltd. More than a decade after the inception of the College of Water Sciences at Beijing Normal University, a research team of leading scientists at the college has involved with the robust, efficient, and sustainable development of surface water and groundwater while improving technologies for management of water quantity and quality. A holistic hydrological solution to water problems is necessary for promoting effective conservation of water ecologies and environments. Located in the capital, Beijing Institute of Water Science and Technology, which has been tasked with solving urban water problems in Beijing City, is a leading authority in the field of water resource management. The institute has solved a large number of complex technical problems related to water issues, which have historically constrained the development of economics in the capital. Beijing Municipal Institute of City Planning and Design, which is the institutional center for urban and rural planning in Beijing City, has extensive planning experiences and has successfully completed a large number of urban planning projects, including the generation of foundation data on the underground pipe network. Beijing Hydrology Center is responsible for the hydrological monitoring of the entire city and has amassed and wielded a considerable amount of urban hydrological data. Zhongguancun Sponge City Engineering Research Institute Co. Ltd. has undertaken a large number of sponge city-related urban engineering projects with its own technical advantages. The integration of these organizations with key research partners involved in the sponge city project will exponentially advance hydrological sciences, which is one of the most prominent research field in China.

Presently, there are 96 professionals working in the laboratory, including one individual affiliated to the Outstanding Overseas Scholars Program. One of the professors has received “Outstanding Scholar” funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Other notable staff members at the laboratory are as follows:

- One “Distinguished Young Scholar” from the National Natural Science Foundation of China;

- One distinguished “Jingshi Scholar” from Beijing Normal University;

- Two “New Century” staff members at the Ministry of Education;

- Thirty-three full professors and 41 associate professors;

- Thirty staff members who have studied overseas.

This professional and academic team collectively demonstrates extraordinary scientific research capabilities.

 The main area of focus at the laboratory includes: (1) Simulation and prediction of floods in urban areas; (2) Regulation and storage of surface and ground water related with sponge city technology; (3) Construction and control mechanisms related to sponge city; and (4) Platform for the integration of sponge city technology. The demand for the construction of an ecologically sound city is grounded in the R&D plans, which is from the Ministry of Science and Technology, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and other national, provincial, and ministerial projects. Additional factors driving this initiative are medium- and long-term national science and technology development plans and the 14th Five-Year Plan of the Beijing Municipality. This plan has several aims: application of basic research, integrating Beijing's superior resources in the field of urban hydrology through a synergetic combination of projects, institutions, and talent, and the establishment of a multi- and inter-disciplinary scientific and technological innovation platform. Improvements in the research conditions and research means in the laboratory will correspondingly lead to more advanced levels of research and innovation.

The Beijing Key Laboratory of Urban Hydrological Cycle and Sponge City Technology will focus on technical efforts aimed at tackling key problems entailed in the construction of a sponge city. These issues include, for example, infiltration and seepage between surface water and groundwater, water quality and quantity, flood control, and drainage. It will also focus on promoting the integrated management of water resources and the environment. The construction of a sponge city will provide a comprehensive solution to above problems as well as other issues prevailing in Beijing City, and make great efforts to become an international, first-class, harmonious, and livable city, as well as a pilot city demonstrating a new kind of urbanization, and a coordinated Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei developmental model as a green city, a forest city, a sponge city, and, most importantly, an ecologically smart city for Beijing City.