Built By the People,For the People

HUANG YUHAO

BY the end of 2023， Chinas urbanizationrate had reached 66.16 percent， bringingwith it opportunities as well as challengesin regard to improving the peopleslives. Chinese President Xi Jinping reiteratedduring his recent inspection trips to ShandongProvince， Chongqing Municipality， and ShanghaiMunicipality the principle of people-centered developmentamid the pursuit of urban construction.

Ecological Protection

The small coastal city of Rizhao in east ChinasShandong Province is bordered by a greenwaythat extends along its coastline. Beside the greenwayis a wetland park where local residents cometo stroll and cycle beneath flocks of seagulls flyingoverhead. Just a few years ago， the 28-kilometerSunshine Coast Greenway was a shabby， unprepossessingarea of saline-alkali soil spotted withaquaculture ponds. Since then， the local governmentsecological restoration project to developthe Sunshine Coast Greenway has transformed itinto a highly desirable leisure and tourism site.

President Xi Jinping inspected the greenwayon May 22， 2024， during his tour of ShandongProvince. After a briefing on its construction anddevelopment， Xi directed his attention to a boardshowing how the greenway looked before andafter its facelift. He commented that the greenway?constructions skillful combination of naturalscenery and man-made facilities meets the needsof citizens and wins their hearts.”

Ecologically vulnerable areas along the route，such as abandoned shrimp ponds and wasteland，were the key focus of restoration and enhancementefforts during the construction of the greenway.Restoration of over 5，000 meters of coastlineand the planting of 35，000 trees and 210，000shrubs have effectively preserved the integrity andcharacter of the coastal ecosystem.

The Sunshine Coast Greenway is now a majorsite for jogging， cycling， and various sportscompetitions. Statistics show that the 90 or moreprovincial and higher-level competitions thatwere held there in 2023 contributed considerablyto local tourism development.

Ecological conservation has carried top priorityin Rizhaos urban development in recent years.Another example is the ecological restorationproject of Rizhao Port in Hailong Bay. The first ofits kind in China， the project has fostered a greenand sustainable marine ecological environmentby removing bulk cargo and coal operations from?the urban areas. Upon its completion in 2019， theproject had restored 1，882 meters of ecologicalshoreline and created 460，000 square meters ofnew beach area.

A better environment is guaranteed to attractmore tourism， and Rizhao is indeed rapidly becomingone of the countrys most popular touristdestinations. The 53 million domestic touristsit welcomed last year chalked up a year-on-yearincrease of 66.5 percent， generating a tourismincome of more than RMB 35 billion.

Rizhaos success testifies to the crucial importanceplaced on ecological protection in urbandevelopment. Xi Jinping said at the 2015 CentralUrban Work Conference that urban work shouldmake creating a sound living environment itscentral goal. Integrating cities into nature so thaturban dwellers may enjoy natural scenery alsorecalls their rural origins. In 2020， in his addressto a grand gathering in celebration of the 30thanniversary of the development and opening-upof Shanghais Pudong， Xi Jinping said， “To createa harmonious and beautiful ecological environment，we should build cities into beautiful homes?where people coexist in harmony with each otherand with nature.”

Many other places in China are committed toprotecting the environment while promoting urbandevelopment. To encourage local endeavors，China has， for instance， rolled out the initiative ofnational garden cities and forest cities. Between2012 and 2021， green coverage of built-up urbanareas increased from 39 percent to 42 percent，and the per capita area of park greenery from 11.8square meters to 14.78 square meters. The dramaticallyenhanced living environment has immeasurablyimproved the quality of peoples lives.

Digital Empowerment

The burgeoning of such digital technologies asartificial intelligence has prompted their use inmegacities like Chongqing Municipality in southwestChina， which in recent years has prioritizeddigitalization to streamline its urban governanceand development.

In April 2023， the megacity launched a comprehensivedigital transformation initiative. Knownas “Digital Chongqing，” it includes the establishmentof an integrated intelligent public dataplatform， a three-tier digital urban operation andgovernance center， six major application systemscovering different aspects of digitalization in Partybuilding， governance， economy， society， culture，and the rule of law， and an intelligent governanceframework.

President Xi Jinping visited the digital urbanoperation and governance center in Chongqingon April 23， 2024， during his inspection tour there.While at the center， Xi Jinping observed that “themodernization of governance system and capacityis an integral part of Chinese modernization，”adding， “to strengthen digital empowerment andpromote the modernization of urban governance，it is necessary to scientifically plan and build bigdata platforms and network systems， strengthenjoint command and coordination among all partiesconcerned， and effectively improve executioncapacity.”

Serving as the brain of the city， the three-tierdigital urban operation and governance centerconnects centers at the municipal， district/county，?and town/sub-district levels， and gathers informationon water resources， electricity， bridges，and tunnels， among others， to create a unifiedcity operation index system. It provides the citysmonitoring and warning， command and dispatch，decision support， and event follow-ups， with endto-end management， so improving urban governancecapabilities.

President Xi Jinping noted， “Urban governanceinvolves many aspects. The first is to havea strong sense of responsibility to make plans inadvance， render management and control accurateand targeted， ensure rapid response， andeffectively deal with all kinds of conditions， so asto ensure safe and orderly operation of the city.”

Chinas largest city by size and population，Chongqing sits amid an area of mountains andhills. The consequences of natural disasters， fires，and other emergencies， therefore， are catastrophic.However， the centers applications include anearly warning and response to emergencies， consistingof 65，000-odd monitoring devices coveringsome12，000 geological hazard points， which notifyand enable the relevant government departmentsto join forces at the center in an effectiveresponse to any emergency that may occur.

According to Chongqing Daily reports， inregard to the construction of governance centersat the district/county level， the platform of basicservices covering all districts and counties in thecity is now fully operational. Of the 123，000 tasksit has accepted， 101，000 have been settled—asettlement rate of 84 percent. Meanwhile， governancecenters at the town/sub-district level，which gather geographic information from 11，200villages and communities， now cover all the citys?primary levels.

President Xi commended Chongqings effortson April 24， 2024， after listening to the work reportof the CPC Chongqing Municipal Committeeand Chongqing municipal government， saying， “Itis important for Chongqing to speed up the developmentof a smart city， build a smart center forcity operation and governance， and also establishand improve the ‘comprehensive and integratedcity governance system and mechanism， so as tomake city governance smarter， more efficient， andmore targeted.”

Peoples City

Be it ecological protection or digital empowerment，a citys development should always revolvearound its people. President Xi Jinping proposedduring an inspection tour of Shanghai in November2019 the concept whereby “a peoplescity is built by the people and for the people.” Xiendorsed this sentiment in his report to the 20thNational Congress of the Communist Party ofChina in 2022， when he said， “Guided by the principlethat cities should be built by the people andfor the people， we will improve urban planning，construction， and governance.”

High rent is the concern of many people workingin metropolitan areas like Shanghai. To solvethe problem， Shanghai has made concertedefforts to build affordable rental housing， andprovide housing support for new residents， youngpeople， and frontline workers. As of March 31，2024， the city had built and planned 491，000 affordablehomes of various types， 304，000 of whichare now occupied.

President Xi visited one such housing projectin a residential community under the New EraHome for Urban Builders and Managers programin Minhang District of Shanghai in November2023. Catering for frontline workers， includingsanitation engineers and deliverymen， it has 138rooms， each with a 35 square meter area， and 440beds. The rent per bed in a four-person room isRMB 500 per month， and that in the two-personrooms is RMB 900 per month.

Residents at the community told President Xi，“The rent here is affordable， the bathroom has hot?water thats available 24 hours a day， and gettingto work takes only about ten minutes. We arevery satisfied.” There is a shared kitchen， laundryroom， bathroom， and reception room here. Outsideare badminton and basketball courts. “Itsvery nice！” they enthused.

Xi expressed pleasure at seeing city buildersfrom across the country living and working herein peace and satisfaction. He told them， “Socialismwith Chinese characteristics is about achievingcommon prosperity. Migrant workers whocome to make contributions to Shanghai are alsomasters of the city.”

He stressed， “It is essential to act on the principlethat a city should be built by the people andfor the people， continuously meet peoples diverseand varied housing needs， and ensure that migrantworkers can come to stay here， live a securelife， and have their own careers.”

Cities across China are making strides inimproving peoples lives. These include 15-minuteurban community life circles， e-government services，and the renovation of old urban residentialcommunities， among others. These are vivid embodimentsof building a people-centered city， thusechoing President Xis words during his Shanghaitrip， “A city should not only have high-rise buildings，but must also show sufficient concern forhow people can lead a better life.”