What makes a successful Sponge City project? Expert perceptions of critical factors in integrated urban water management in the Asia-Pacific.

• Qualitative evidence of the success of SC projects based on 90 questionnaires. • Systematic investigation of relationships between sponge city project success factors. • In China economic success factors are undervalued and underperforming. • In Australia policy and governance success factors are undervalued and underperforming. • Procedural and substantive success factors are not well linked in projects across Asia-Pacific. Sponge City (SC) projects aim to replicate natural water cycles within urban settings, providing sustainable solutions to urban water management. However, there is a lack of understanding on the relative importance and performance of the significant factors that contribute to the success of SC projects. To address this, we conducted a survey of urban water experts from the two distinctive cultures of Australia and China, to generate insights on 'what makes a successful Sponge City project?'. We also explored the relationships between success factors using importance performance analysis and structural equation modelling. Our findings demonstrate that whilst professionals think that the water management objectives have been dealt with in a satisfactory way, they also find that economic, socio-cultural and design factors are addressed in an insufficient or fragmented way. Our research highlights both similarities and differences in the importance and performance of SC factors in two countries. In China greater attention to economic factors is required, while in Australia policy and governance factors require greater focus. Both China and Australia would benefit from further research on undervalued socio-cultural factors. Most importantly we find that SC projects require greater integration of substantive and procedural factors to address urban water challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]