In the latest episode of the all-media talk show “China Economic Roundtable” hosted by Xinhua News Agency, officials and experts discussed how China has continuously improved the living conditions and housing environment of its people through the construction of affordable housing and the renovation of slums, old residential communities, urban villages, and dilapidated housing.
Continuous high-quality urban renewal, China’s people-centered development practice
Take Shanghai as an example. Wang Congchun, vice president of Shanghai University, said the buildings in the historic Shikumen and Lilong alleys, most of which were built before the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, lacked sanitary facilities and often had only one public toilet available for the entire alley.
Wang, who is also director of the Shanghai Institute for Urban Renewal and Sustainability at Shanghai University, said some homes housed far more people than they were designed for during certain historical periods, with multiple generations living under the same roof. He pointed out that in the early 1990s, the living space per person in Shanghai was only about 6.6 square meters. By the end of 2024, the housing floor area per capita of Shanghai’s urban residents has increased to 37.57 square meters.
Shanghai has overcome challenges and gained rich experiences that can be replicated in other cities in future urban renewal.
Before the renovation, the city of Shanghai conducted a household survey and created a plan tailored to each household, fully respecting the wishes of residents. Meanwhile, financial support from the central and local governments has also been strengthened. Pan Wei, an official from the Ministry of Housing and Urban and Rural Development, told the roundtable that after the update, regular follow-up tests will be conducted to ensure residents are safe.
Shanghai is just a microcosm of China’s urban renewal.
According to Xinhua News Agency, since the 18th Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 2012, China has built more than 68 million units of various types of affordable resettlement housing, and 170 million people suffering from housing problems have been resettled. More than 300,000 old housing communities have also been renovated, benefiting more than 130 million city residents, Ban said.
According to Pan, China has established a multi-layered housing security system, including public rental housing, affordable rental housing, and quota-based affordable housing. These arrangements cater to different groups, such as low-income households, new urban residents, and young people, and are systemically tailored.
Meanwhile, China is accelerating the construction of affordable housing, with a focus on meeting the basic housing needs of vulnerable people. Meanwhile, China is expediting the implementation of a series of renovation projects, especially targeting slums, old residential areas, urban villages and dilapidated buildings, to improve the living conditions of residents, Pan pointed out.
Echoing Mr. Pan’s words, Gao Shiyun, an official with the Shanghai Municipal Housing and Urban-Rural Development Commission, said the city did not stop working even after the renovation of the vast old housing complex in the city center was completed in 2022.
Since 2023, a total of 380,000 square meters of scattered old houses have been completely renovated, benefiting 13,000 households. In addition, according to Gao, Shanghai has installed 9,176 elevators in existing high-rise residential buildings and carried out renovation projects of over 40 million square meters of old residential areas, greatly increasing residents’ sense of benefit, happiness and security in their homes.
One beneficiary, Gu Jiayi, a post-1985 generation resident who once lived in the old Shikumen house, recalled that as a child, her family of four was crammed into a small 12 square meter house with no separate sanitary facilities.
“Before dawn, adults from each household in the alley carried heavy toilet bowls to the cesspool at the entrance of the alley, emptied them, and then washed them on the side,” Gu said in a roundtable discussion.
The renewal project began before he entered university. “After the renovation, many neighbors have moved into new homes with separate kitchens and bathrooms, saying their lives have finally improved,” said Gu.
In July, the Central Urban Labor Conference said that urban renewal should become an important tool to optimize urban structures, transform growth engines, improve quality, promote green development, preserve cultural heritage and improve governance efficiency.
The conference emphasized the goal of building modern, human-centered cities that are innovative, livable, beautiful, resilient, culturally vibrant and smart, and stressed that efforts should be focused on promoting quality urban development.
MNA