Chongqing - By integrating digital intelligence into urban governance, Chongqing is pioneering a new path for managing a megacity of over 30 million people.
Chongqing’s Digital Urban Operation and Governance Center has developed a real-time, efficient, and precise cross-agency response system. (Photo/Luo Bin, Visual Chongqing)
In April 2024, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Chongqing and learned about the municipality's efforts to modernize city governance while visiting a digital urban operation and governance center.
One year later, Chongqing has built a digital governance network consisting of one central municipal hub, 41 district or county-level centers, and 1,031 local township offices—all operating in unison. This transformation's heart is a citywide digital command platform that can dispatch tasks, coordinate departments, and resolve incidents in real time.
The following three examples demonstrate how Chongqing’s “smart brain” is transforming safety, efficiency, and public trust.
Digital disaster prevention
At the Chongqing Natural Resources Command Center, a click on the “Landslide Risk Monitoring” app brings up DiaoZui Cliff—one of the largest and most dangerous rock formations in the Three Gorges Reservoir area. Covering 28,800 square meters and threatening shipping lanes, scenic sites, and nearby residents, it’s a potential catastrophe waiting to happen.
Forty-six smart sensors and two live-feed cameras monitor DiaoZui around the clock, supported by drone patrols and local volunteers. Automated alerts instantly notify emergency, transportation, and tourism departments if any geological changes occur, triggering an evacuation plan.
Researchers at the Chongqing Institute of Geology and Mineral Resources are upgrading a digital 3D geological model. (Photo/Zhang Jinhui, Visual Chongqing)
This system has helped Chongqing digitize risk data on 883 similar formations and streamline emergency response. With over 34 million datasets from 14 departments integrated, the city now operates a high-precision 3D model that can detect even a five-millimeter shift in terrain, accurately enough to spot a moving stone.
So far in 2024, Chongqing has used this platform to evacuate more than 51,000 residents during 23 rounds of heavy rainfall.
AI-powered forest fire response
At 12:07 p.m. on September 12, 2024, an alert popped up on the Beibei District governance center screen: visible flames were detected in Jinyun Village, a forested area of Jinyun Mountain. Within minutes, AI-equipped cameras confirmed the source—a patch of bamboo had spontaneously combusted during a heatwave.
Thanks to the newly launched “Jinyun Mountain Forest Fire Prevention” platform, emergency teams—including local law enforcement and forestry officials—arrived within 5 minutes. The fire was extinguished by 12:50 p.m.
Emergency responders use drones to patrol Chongqing Qiaokouba National Forest Park. (Photo/Xie Zhiqiang, Visual Chongqing)
This system, launched in June 2024, integrates real-time data from 110 infrared sensors, drones, and 5 G-enabled surveillance cameras across the 137-square-kilometer area. It overlays wildfire data with road networks, water sources, evacuation routes, and weather information to coordinate rapid response and resource deployment.
To date, over 30,000 alerts have been verified and addressed through this platform, preventing the spread of three fire incidents with near-instant response.
Resolving disputes faster
On August 20, 2024, two people were seen arguing heatedly outside a residential complex in Liangjiang New Area. A community worker and a police officer jointly arrived within minutes, bringing the pair—divorced parents disputing child visitation—into a mediation room. A legal counselor clarified their rights and responsibilities peacefully resolved the conflict.
This is part of Chongqing’s innovative “joint governance” model, where police officers are stationed within local governance centers to collaborate with street-level workers. Non-urgent cases reported to 110 are rerouted to community teams for faster handling.
The model has drastically improved efficiency: in the past year, dispute resolution times in the Lijia Subdistrict have dropped by 60%, while the resolution rate rose from 93.6% to 99.97%. Criminal cases fell by 30.8%, and telecom fraud fell by nearly 39%.
From digital disaster management to wildfire suppression and neighborhood mediation, Chongqing is showing that smart governance is more than just technology—it’s about safety, responsiveness, and building trust in a rapidly growing metropolis.
(Shen Xiaojia, a reporter from Chongqing Daily, contributed to this report's Chinese version.)