Chongqing- "I hope that Chongqing will keep developing as a very unique city in China," said Natallia Pratashchyk, former architect at China Coal Technology Engineering Group. She's a Belarusian living in Chongqing who is quite fond of local architecture.
Pratashchyk suggested that Chongqing should offer high-quality environments and cozy places for its citizens in the future. "We need some good environments to feel that we are human beings, not that we are living in a concrete jungle," she said.
By 2025, the coverage and quality of green space and ecological security in the built-up space of Chongqing's main urban area will be significantly improved, according to the issued Plan of Building a National Eco-Garden City in Chongqing in March.
An overview of the city of Chongqing up to the Nanshan mountain. (iChongqing/ Vivian Yan)
Meanwhile, there will be a more appropriate layout of green space, better infrastructure, and a more livable environment in the city, reaching the standard of a National Ecological Garden City.
The National Ecological Garden City title was created in 1992 and is the highest honor a Chinese city can receive for its urban living environment. The first batch of pilot cities in China won the title, including Qingdao, Yangzhou, Nanjing, and Hangzhou.
Besides, Chongqing will pay great attention to the conservation of historical and famous wood species, where the rate of protection of its reserve resources is expected to reach 100% with the completion of the census, archives, and labeling.
"I hope our natural environment in Chongqing will be better and better in the future," said Orsolya Gyarmati, an English teacher at Chongqing Wei Ming School. She's a Hungarian who's lived in Chongqing for over ten years. She loves hiking, and some of her favorite spots include the Nanshan Scenic Area and Chongqing Fairy Mountain.
"I think the ecological environment of Chongqing is very important, not only the city downtown but also the districts and counties and other surrounding cities," said Gyarmati. "They all need to participate in protecting the ecological environment."
In recent years, Chongqing has made efforts in green transformation, from slope cliff beautification to green space quality improvement. The urban greenery amount and the greening quality have improved, offering favorable conditions for the central city.
In 2021, related departments applied the first batch of historical gardens, and 17 parks were awarded, including Eling Park in Yuzhong District.
Eling park of Chongqing. (iChongqing/ Chen Zhan)
(Wang Lu, as an intern, also contributed to this report.)