Kongjian Yu

Kongjian Yu was a Chinese landscape architect and urban planner. He was a professor at Peking University and the founder of Turenscape, a design firm specializing in landscape architecture, urban planning, and ecological restoration. Yu was recognized for developing the sponge cities concept, which promotes nature-based solutions for urban water management. His research has influenced national policies in China and has been applied in urban planning worldwide. Yu has been heralded by Michael Sorkin as "a hero of effective advocacy within a system fraught with perils" and recognized as a leader in ecological urbanism and the constructive postmodernist approach towards ecological civilization.