This is how Copenhagen’s parks protect the city from cloudbursts

Copenhagen is enlisting an unusual ally in the fight to protect itself from ever-increasing rainfall: its parks. Many of the city’s historic green spaces have been retrofitted with channels, pools, levees and underground reservoirs - such as the neoclassical 1929 Enghaveparken, which now holds 10 Olympic-sized swimming pools of rainwater runoff underground in a hidden chamber. Preparing for and collecting this water has a number of advantages: as well as protecting the city from devastating floods, the reservoirs can supply city utilities, feed plants and flowers and even provide water features where citizens can gather and play. It’s all part of Copenhagen’s bid to transform itself into the world’s first fully fledged sponge city. The Davos Baukultur Alliance champions sustainable and climate-resilient urban development by encouraging circular methods in the construction and management of buildings, infrastructure and public spaces.