**5. Conclusion**

or mathematical universes that fade in, fade out, and change in volume across time," advises Dr. Burley. "Creating the design can be a process whereby the dots to be connected may not be apparent and the sequence to connect the dots is not apparent either. Some people are not comfortable with such puzzles and others enjoy the challenge," states Dr. Burley. "The sponge city competition typifies such a challenge. It is creating a new set of relationships and

**Figure 11.** A series of 3-D models exploring the three dimensional properties and possibilities in the sponge city design

**Figure 10.** A series of drawings exploring ground plane patterns for the sponge city design. (copyright 2016 Na Li and

Yiwen Xu).

282 Land Use - Assessing the Past, Envisioning the Future

(copyright 2016 Na Li and Yiwen Xu).

standards previously unexplored and untested," reveals Dr. Burley.

Knowledge about water, its management, and use continues to grow and evolve. An analytical approach developed and employed in one part of the world may eventually become important in other parts of the world. This has been the case in the development of non-toxic water-quality estimation methods developed in the USA and being considered elsewhere. In addition, the special needs of selected societies and cultures may necessitate the evolution of new functions and design standards in planning and design. Applications of these standards will continue to evolve and be applied in different manners across the world. In future, some of these relatively newer equations and applications may be included in textbooks and studied by most landscape and civil engineering students.
