In the purpose of defining typical urban water management challenges in coastal lowlands in the context of global climate change, a comparative study was conducted between two coastal new towns respectively located in the Netherlands and Northern China. Comparative method is applied to define main functioning patterns of urban water systems in the two cases, then computer simulations were used to furthercompare drainage capacity in order to reveal the trends of urban water management. Major resulthas shown that Almere in the Netherlands generally more advanced in urban water management asmultiple functioning patterns are available.Strong dykes maintain competence for land subsidence and sea level rise. Open water system decreases local runoff and increaseswater retention level. Systematic control ofsluicesand locks which serve for shipping and waterfront landscaping are simultaneously isolating contaminants from outer water body. Tianjin Eco-city in China has shown both strengths and weaknesses. It takes large amount of reclaimed water as main landscaping water source, which adapts to local water pollution and shortage while requires highly centralized facilities. Large water body is reserved and huge scale underground drainage system built, but it is still vulnerable to heavy storms due to the lack of efficient surface water drainage system. Coastal line control does not adequately prevent from increasing storm surge risks in the future. SWMMsimulations have supported the viewpoint ofdistributed surface water with a higher efficiency for storm drainage. Meanwhile, surface water system returns more added values to urban development. The study is corresponding well with the theory of water sensitive city. As a conclusion, urban water system should always incorporate methods to achieve higher system resilience based on multiple functioning patterns.