Empirical Background: The Causes, Threats of, and Responses to Urban Flooding in China and the World

Climate change is a global challenge, and cities are experiencing extreme weather events, such as heavy rainfall more frequently (Arnell and Gosling in Clim Change 134(3):387-401, 2016; Cannaby et al. in J Marine Syst 141:149–166, 2015). Climate-driven disasters are increasingly serious threat associated with climate change. Among the climate-driven disasters, floods are the most frequent and widespread ones associated with extreme weather, e.g. heavy rain (Dhar and Nandargi in Hydrometeorological aspects of floods in India Flood Problem and Management in South Asia. Springer, 2003). Urban floods, which may be several feet deep, occur quickly after intensive and heavy precipitation deserves China’s attention because of the frequency and severity of its urban floods.