Changsha kicks off new phrase of urban upgrades

An elderly man plays with his grandchild in a renovated community in Changsha, Central Chinas Hunan province. [Photo/IC Photo]

During the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20), Changsha, capital city of Central China's Hunan province, completed 29 projects of urban village reconstruction and renovated 18.97 million square meters of shantytowns.

The city has been awarded the title of National Civilized City for three consecutive years, and has been selected as one of the 10 happiest cities in China for 13 years consecutively. The population has increased by 3 million in 10 years, with its total population exceeding 10 million.

In recent years, Changsha has installed 1,500 elevators for old buildings, added 9,874 public parking slots, added or renovated 4,796 facilities for the elderly, and optimized the property management in 180 communities.

From 2019 to 2020, the city renovated 225 old communities. 368 communities are planned to be renovated this year, and there will be another 576 in 2022, involving a total of 300,000 houses.

The photo on the left shows Xiwenmiaoping in Tianxin District, Changsha before the renovation, while the street on the right retains its traditional architectural style after the renovation. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

To speed up the urban upgrade, the municipal government formulated the action plan of "Changsha Special Plan for Urban Renewal from 2021 to 2035". According to the plan, by 2035 urban renewal will roll out in 30 key areas in the city, bringing in a total investment of 538.8 billion yuan ($84.09 billion) and adding 150,000 new jobs.