Ministry Announces Pilot Projects Promoting Urban Renewal Actions

The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development recently announced 21 cities, including Beijing, as the first group of cities to implement urban renewal pilot projects, to instruct cities to explore urban renewal methods and paths based on local conditions. This project is aiming at addressing the outstanding problems and shortcomings faced by the cities while entering the important urban renewal phase, strictly implement the bottom line requirements of urban renewal, and transform urban development and construction methods. The pilot projects are to explore the working mechanism, implementation path, supporting policies, technical methods and management systems of urban renewal in accordance with local conditions. The pilot projects are to promote the optimization of urban structure, improve functions and qualities of the cities, form reproducible and extendable experience and practices, guide each city to share experiences and learn from them, and implement urban renewal actions in a scientific and orderly manner.

The first group of pilot projects has started in November, 2021, and will last for two years. The pilot projects mainly consists the following three tasks.

First, explore the overall planning mechanism for urban renewal. Strengthen work coordination, establish and improve the working mechanism of government coordination, departmental linkage, and layered implementation. Prioritize urban examination and evaluation, reasonably determine the keys of urban renewal, speed up the drafting process of the urban renewal plans and annual implementation plans, designate urban renewal units and establish a project database, and clarify urban renewal objectives, tasks, key projects, and implementation order. Encourage the enaction of local laws and regulations to provide legal protection for urban renewal.

Second, explore a sustainable model of urban renewal. Explore the establishment of a sustainable implementation model with government guidance, market operation, and public participation. Adhere to simultaneous implementation of "retention, reform, and demolition", focusing on retention, utilization and improvement, conducting surveys and evaluations of existing buildings, and establishing a coordinating mechanism for existing resources. Construct a diversified funding mechanism, increase financial investment at all levels, strengthen credit support from all kinds of financial institutions, improve the social capital participation mechanism, and improve the public participation mechanism.

Third, explore the establishment of urban renewal supporting systems and policies. Innovate related supporting policies including land, planning, construction, landscaping, fire protection, real estate, industry, finance and taxation, and finance. Deepen the reform of the construction projects approval system, optimize the approval process for urban renewal projects, and improve the approval efficiency. Explore the establishment of a full life cycle urban renewal management system includes planning, construction, management, operation, and demolition. Exploring the technical methods and implementation paths of renewal and transformation according to classification, and encourage drafting standards and specifications applicable to the renewal and transformation of the existing.

The pilot projects include three major requirements for the implementation as following.

First, prepare an implementation plan. All provincial level housing and urban-rural development authorities shall organize pilot cities （districts） in their respective regions to draft implementation plans. The plan should clarify the pilot objectives, contents, key projects, implementation timing and assurance measures, and submit them to the Department of Energy Conservation and Technology of the Ministry before November 30, 2021.

Second, strengthen organization and leadership. All pilot cities （districts） should attach great importance to the pilot projects, strengthen organization and leadership, strictly implement the urban renewal bottom line requirements, follow the pilot implementation plan, and steadily promote the pilot work to ensure effectiveness. The provincial level housing and urban-rural development authorities must widely publicize the meaning and concept of urban renewal, strengthen support for the pilot work in the local area, and supervise and guide the implementation of this implementation plan. The Ministry will organize experts to follow up and guide, and regularly evaluate the pilot work.

Lastly, summarize and promote the pilot experience. The pilot cities （districts） shall promptly study and solve the difficulties encountered during the pilot, carefully summarize the experience, good practices, and good cases, and report the pilot work to the Ministry every quarter. The Ministry will build a publicity platform for pilot work, promote exchanges between pilot cities, and promptly promote pilot experience across the country.

On December 17, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development held a video conference on urban renewal pilot work, and together with the officials from the provincial housing and urban-rural construction departments and pilot city governments to study the mechanism, implementation and focus points of urban renewal, and jointly explore and promote urban renewal work.

At the video conference, officials from eight municipal governments including Beijing, Chongqing, Nanjing, Chengdu, Hohhot, Changsha, Yantai, and Tongling introduced the pilot plan and implementation plan. At present, each pilot city attaches great importance to urban renewal. These cities have established a work leadership group or headquarters led by party committees and government leaders to draft implementation plans, prepare urban renewal plans, make overall plans for urban renewal work, and have initially formed a project library and demonstration project.

The conference suggested that we must accurately grasp the intention and requirements of the implementation of urban renewal actions, take urban examinations as a path, coordinate urban planning and construction management, promote urban structure optimization, function completion and quality improvement, and transform urban development and construction methods to build livable, green, resilient, smart, and humane city.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development will strengthen tracking and guidance of pilot projects, strengthen top-level design, promote the establishment of a sound urban renewal planning and project generation mechanism, promote a sustainable model of government guidance, market operation, and public participation, and continue to improve relevant policies to actively, stably and orderly promote urban renewal work.

Sources:

<https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/yNC9G3lYb84og18Twsweyg>

<https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/rDppl9JJ52xrxSes7vUM5g>

Edited and translated by Fan Junyi