Benefit of Sponge City monetization based on "water footprint theory": cases of Xi'an and Guyuan.

China has proposed to build "Sponge City" to alleviate the problems of urban waterlogging, water shortage, ecological degradation, and water pollution. The benefits of Sponge City construction have become a focus of attention because of the considerable investment and the extensive participation of all sectors of society. This paper develops a model for monetizing urban, river, and regional benefits, by taking city and river areas as the research objects.