A City is a Living Organism That Will Continue to Grow and Renew | Experts

Chongqing- "A city is a living organism that will continue to grow and renew," said Cui Kai, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, at the City Regeneration Forum of 2022 Sichuan-Chongqing Housing and Urban and Rural Development Expo. "We must get to know one city when promoting urban renewal."

Creating urban public spaces

Cui believes Chongqing is a mountain city with beautiful scenery and unique topography. Urban renewal in Chongqing does not come from increasing skyscrapers but from creating public spaces representing the city's strengths and allowing citizens to be closer to nature.  

Many urban renewal projects were unveiled at the expo, attracting significant attention.

Specifically, the reconstruction project of the old urban area around Datianwan Stadium of the Yuzhong District will upgrade buildings on the ring road and establish public service facilities such as long-term rentals and community businesses. The construction of the urban organic renewal project in the Huahuiyuan area of the Yubei District includes the municipal renewal of the Flower Garden and the refurbishment of old communities.

At the exhibition hall of T. Y. Lin International Engineering Consulting (China) Co.Ltd, the urban renewal projects of the Changan No. 3 factory area are also displayed.

The project is located in the Liyuchi area of Wulidian, Jiangbei District, close to the Guanyinqiao business district. It will play the leading role in transit-oriented development (TOD) by implanting the emerging business formats of corporate headquarters and high-end commercial streets, relying on the unique transportation advantages of three rails and two stations.

The urban renewal fund reaches 100 billion

The Chongqing Urban Renewal Fund Strategic Cooperation Framework Agreement was also signed at the opening ceremony.

"The urban renewal fund is an important innovative financial product for expanding project investment and financing channels," said the relevant person in charge of the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development. "The total scale of the Chongqing urban renewal fund is worth 100 billion yuan (approx. 14.81 billion USD)."

In the urban renewal process, how to solve the problem of funding sources has become the key to successful renewal, said Dr. Cong Huang, Vice President of T. Y. Lin International Engineering Consulting (China) Co.Ltd. He believes that as a type of urban development funds, urban renewal funds are essential to urban renewal.

Firstly, the fund can be used for various purposes, including project capital, preliminary development, demolition, resettlement, as well as other public projects to promote urban renewal. It is also possible to avoid short-term investment pressure by subscribing according to the investment progress of fund projects.

Second, the urban renewal fund can provide a platform for diversified social capital, which in turn can lead to government, enterprise, and social investor cooperation, sharing risk, absorbing opinions, and fast convergence.

(Zhu Qinzhuo, as an intern, also contributed to this report.)