Daniel Dultzin’s Proposal for Sponge Cities in Mexico
Daniel Dultzin, an ambassador for the sponge city model and co-founder of the NGO Estrategias de Adaptación al Cambio Climático, suggests that restoring the water cycle can boost Mexico’s GDP by up to two percentage points within two years.
According to Dultzin, “If we restore water, we restore life.” He emphasizes that rejuvenating the hydrological cycle can pave the way for self-sufficient, eco-friendly, and economically sustainable neighborhoods where water and waste are managed locally, generating wealth instead of pollution.
Challenges for Mexico and the Economic Potential of Sponge Cities
Dultzin acknowledges that Mexico faces structural challenges in adopting this vision, including institutional fragmentation across three levels of government, lack of territorial planning, and the persistence of a grey infrastructure culture that impermeabilizes and channels water.
“The biggest obstacle remains the government; we need to change how we treat water and let nature do its job,” he stated. He pointed out that Mexico grapples with polluted rivers like the Tula, Atoyac, and Lerma-Santiago, describing them as “environmental hells.”
Despite these challenges, Dultzin noted that the Chinese model of sponge cities is being considered for a pilot program in these priority basins. “If successful, it could be scaled nationally and bring about substantial change,” he said.
Based on his calculations, a national sponge city plan with public funding and technical support could elevate the GDP by up to two percentage points within two years. This would be achieved through local job creation, reduced flood damages, and decreased infrastructure costs. “Each neighborhood would offer employment opportunities, from removing asphalt and reforestation to designing natural drainage systems; that’s circular and human development,” Dultzin emphasized.
He also warned that Mexico must restore at least 20,000 urban hectares within the next five years to mitigate extreme drought and flood impacts, a challenge that can only be tackled by “allowing nature to regain its role within cities.”
A Model for Regenerating Territories and Communities
Dultzin’s statements aligned with the discussions at the “Watersheds and Sponge Cities” panel held at the Universidad del Medio Ambiente (UMA) in Valle de Bravo, Estado de México. There, alongside other experts, they deliberated on how this model can regenerate territories and communities.
Moderated by Andrea Dani, director of the Sustainable Architecture Area at UMA, she highlighted that sponge cities are “not just green infrastructure but a new paradigm of environmental and social management.”
Dani explained that the principle is straightforward yet transformative: infiltrate, retain, reuse, and restore water using permeable pavements, wetlands, green roofs, and living walls. This approach allows cities to reduce flooding, recharge aquifers, and enhance quality of life.
“This model rethinks the relationship between city, territory, and water. It stops viewing water as a nuisance and turns it into an ally. In doing so, it also creates green jobs, improves health, and strengthens community coexistence,” she stressed.
Dani reminded the audience that eight out of ten people in Latin America live in cities, making urban rethinking urgent. According to UN-Habitat, urban floods cause annual losses of up to $80 billion globally.
“It’s not just about beautifying cities but making them safer and more resilient,” she added.
Territory as a Provider of Ecosystem Services
Francisco Bonilla, general director of Synergy Agua y Energía and its subsidiary Grupo Ecolo-Systems, UMA’s co-founder, and diploma supervisor in Integral Water Management, contributed a technical and critical perspective.
“What’s at stake isn’t just water but the deficit of ecosystem services we’ve caused,” he asserted. “Sponge cities can restore ecological functions like aquifer recharge, pollination, and oxygen regulation by returning the land to its natural response dynamics.”
Bonilla challenged the prevailing urbanization model that disregarded natural watercourses.
He recounted the case of golf courses built over the former riverbed of Churubusco, which displaced water into residential areas now prone to flooding. “Water always returns to its memory; if we don’t give it space, it will exact retribution,” he warned.
He also shared a similar case in northern Mexico, where a storm destroyed a newly built housing development because it was constructed on a drainage plain.
Lastly, he cautioned that overexploitation of groundwater has shifted the Earth’s rotation axis by 60 centimeters, according to NASA studies, and reserves could be depleted in less than 25 years if the hydrological balance isn’t restored. “Restoring nature’s water cycle is restoring planetary equilibrium,” he affirmed.
Kongjian Yu: The Visionary Behind Sponge Cities
Throughout the interview, Dultzin highlighted the legacy of Chinese architect Kongjian Yu, a Harvard alumnus and founder of Turenscape.
“Kongjian proved that infrastructure can be poetic; water is accompanied, not channeled,” Dultzin recounted.
His proposal for sponge cities transformed urban planning in China, where the program grew from 30 to over 600 cities in less than a decade and is now part of national policy.
The expert explained that Yu inspired Mexico to explore the ecological restoration of the Tula, Atoyac, and Lerma-Santiago rivers using the same approach: releasing water, removing pavement, and restoring the land’s natural response capacity.
Tragically, on September 24, 2025, Kongjian Yu perished in a plane crash in the Brazilian Pantanal while filming a documentary on wetlands following his participation in the São Paulo Biennale. His death caused international shock: then-President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva expressed “sadness and consternation” over the loss of “a global reference uniting quality of life and environmental protection.”
A Paradigm Shift Starting Locally
Experts agreed that Mexico has the opportunity to become a Latin American leader in nature-based solutions if it successfully integrates its water, urban, and social policies under the sponge watersheds model.
“Each neighborhood, municipality, and watershed must reconnect with water for true hydrological, ecological, and economic security of the country,” Dultzin stressed.
