A review and strategic optimisation of urban stormwater management system: a case study of Suzhou Industrial Park

In the context of global climate change, extreme weather events such as typhoons and heavy rainfalls pose new challenges to the urban water environment. In rapidly urbanised cities, the expansion of impervious surfaces and high development intensity further complicate runoff processes and exacerbate uneven flood risks. Consequently, optimising urban stormwater management systems (SMSs) became a critical issue. This study aims to review the achievements made in water environment governance in Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP) over the past thirty years and to propose strategic responses to potential future extreme climate events. From both quantitative and qualitative perspectives, this study also covers domestic and international studies related to stormwater management, GIS-based visual analyses of high-risk flood-prone areas (FPAs), and questionnaire surveys on residents’ evaluation to discuss and propose possible optimisation strategies for the SMS and sustainable development in the future. Through the spatial visualisation of flood risk areas, this study identifies zones within the study area that could be particularly vulnerable under extreme climate conditions, thus developing more targeted mitigation strategies. Additionally, by collecting residents’ evaluations of the current SMS, the study assesses its effectiveness and identifies existing shortcomings, which is expected to provide an essential basis for future policy formulation.