How Asia's 5,000-year-old rice terraces are inspiring modern flood control

Parks, roofs and riverbanks mimicking the long-used agricultural form are helping Asian cities absorb, hold and purify rainwater.

One of Kotchakorn Voraakhom's most memorable moments growing up in Bangkok in the 1980s was playing in floodwaters in a small boat built by her father in front of her home.

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At Thammasat University, north of Bangkok, tiers of small paddy fields cascade down from the top of the building along Voraakhom's green roof, allowing the campus to collect rainwater and grow food.

There are four ponds around the building to catch and hold the water flowing down. On dry days, this water is pumped back up using the clean energy generated by the solar panels on the roof and used to irrigate the rooftop paddy fields.

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Plants vs pipes

As nature-based solutions - embodied by "green" infrastructure like rice-terraced-inspired river banks, urban parks and trees and green roofs - gather limelight, there have been debates over whether they can really handle more and more relentless storms compared with more conventional "grey" infrastructure such as dams and pipes.

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