Chongqing- The Chongqing Housing and Urban-Rural Construction Committee released a 2021 examination report of Chongqing recently, where the examination results show that the overall condition of the central city remains stable and improving.

In order to promote the construction of a city free of “urban diseases,” the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development launched the pilot work of urban physical examination in 2019. In June 2020, Chongqing was selected as the second batch of 36 sample cities for examination.

"Urban diseases" are familiar to major metropolises around the world. They refer to traffic congestion, energy shortage, environmental pollution, and other problems in the urban development process, as well as the imbalance of the input and output of material and energy flow and the intensification of demand contradictions. 

Water quality ranks first 

The ecological environment quality of Chongqing has continued to improve, where the proportion of days with good air has increased from 86% to 91% by the end of 2020.

The distinctive advantages of landscape features continue to play an important role. In 2021, the mountain city trail along the mid-mountain cliff line was opened to the public. It was completed with 273 kilometers, an increase of 135 kilometers compared with the first round of examination.

Phased results have improved the governance of important nodes of “Two Rivers and Four Banks.” The four indicators of urban water-friendly space, public open space, green space, and landscape protection are all relatively high.

The "Two Rivers and Four Banks" core area is enclosed by the Chaotianmen-Jiefangbei area, the Jiangbeizui area, and the Danzishi-Longmenhao area, including the intersection area of the Yangtze River and Jialing River. It covers a total area of about 16.2 square kilometers, of which the land area is about 10 square kilometers.

The governance effect of “Clear Water and Green Bank” continued to show. By the end of 2020, the water quality of 42 national examination sections in the city was excellent, ranking first among 12 major sample cities, including Beijing and Shanghai.

The governance and improvement work of “Clear Water and Green Banks” in the main urban area aims to eliminate black and odorous water bodies further, build a sponge city, improve the urban water environment, reconstruct urban water ecology, protect urban water resources, build important ecological barriers in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, to enhances citizens’ sense of gain, happiness, and security.

Furthermore, social security has been continuously improved. By the end of 2020, the number of public rental housing in the central city increased by 4,000 compared with the first round of examination, with a total of 378,000. The coverage rate of housing security for new citizens and young people reached 41.6%.

Solving problems of “urban disease”

According to the relevant person in charge of the Chongqing Housing and Urban-Rural Construction Committee, in the 2021 urban examination report, many “urban diseases” in Chongqing have been steadily eliminated, and three of them have obvious improvement effects.

The transformation of the old community has achieved remarkable results. Last year, a total of 200 residential districts were renovated in the central urban area, benefiting 124,000 households.

The number of recreational and sports facilities for the elderly has increased significantly. At the end of 2020, the coverage rate of community elderly care service stations increased by more than three percentage points compared with the first round of examination; more than ten percentage points increased the coverage rate of 15-minute walks of sports facilities compared with the first round of examination.

Furthermore, the urban road traffic operation remained stable. Compared with the first round of examination, the operation speed of main roads in peak hours, the proportion of connecting and transferring between rail stations and bus stations within 100 meters, and the coverage rate of bus stations within 500 meters have improved significantly.

(Wang Lu, as an intern, also contributed to this report.)