[Objective] The differences of sponge city construction between the north and the south part of China were compared in order to find out the suitable way for the construction of sponge city in the north part of China via a case study in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province.[Methods] Remote sensing interpretation, spatial analysis and field interview were used to analyze of the issues in sponge city construction in Shenyang City from 4 aspects:the precipitation and the characters of urban underlying surface, the utility of sponge projects, the cost-benefit of sponge projects and the public awareness and participation.[Results] There were four main issues in the construction of sponge city in Shenyang City:increasing impervious surface, mismatching between sponge projects and urban waterlogging areas, high costs and low benefits of sponge projects and low public participation.[Conclusion] Sponge city should be constructed in coordination with the civil engineering, and it should play a role in promoting the construction of national central city, attracting the inflow of human resources, increasing wealth and stimulating investment. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the participation of public in sponge city construction, use different methods to governance the suburban and center areas, and ensure the sustainability of public private partnerhip(PPP) madel in sponge city construction.