To renovate 4,000 old residential communities and upgrade 12,000 kilometers of aging pipeline networks

The General Office of the People's Government of Hunan Province recently issued an implementation plan for the three-year urban renewal campaign of Hunan Province (2026-2028). The plan outlines 20 specific tasks in six major sections, including promoting area-based renewal, creating livable spaces, enhancing safety resilience, facilitating cultural continuity, improving governance capacity, and refining policy mechanisms. In 2026, the province will launch the construction of 100 urban renewal areas, and by the end of 2028, 80 pilot areas will be basically completed.

A guideline on continuously advancing urban renewal campaign was issued by the General Office of the People's Government of Hunan Province last year. This year, the implementation plan refines the medium and long-term goals into quantified tasks by year and field, with area-based units for overall planning and implementation. It coordinates residential improvement, supporting facilities completion, environmental remediation, and safety governance for simultaneous implementation. Comprehensive urban physical examinations will be carried out, with prefecture-level cities completing full coverage of urban physical examinations in central urban areas by the end of December 2026, and county-level cities fully launching urban physical examinations in 2026.

The plan focuses on the pressing difficulties and problems that concerned people most. By 2028, 4,000 old residential communities in urban areas will be renovated and 500 high-quality integrated communities created. 18,000 units of old housing will have undergone resident-initiated renewal, 5,000 elevators added or upgraded, 300 pocket parks and community parks newly built or expanded, and 300 kilometers of urban greenways newly built or renovated. Meanwhile, a number of urban villages will be renewed and renovated according to local conditions, promoting the transformation and upgrading of old neighborhoods and old factory areas.

The plan highlights firmly safeguarding the baseline of urban safety. By 2028, 12,000 kilometers of aging pipeline networks will be updated and renovated, and 18 household waste incineration facilities will undergo upgrading and renovation. A general survey of urban C and D-grade dangerous housing and non-self-contained housing will be conducted with documentation established. For D-grade dangerous housing, special demolition and renovation plans will be formulated for priority disposal. The three systems—housing safety physical examinations, safety management funds, and quality and safety insurance—will be implemented.

The plan emphasizes advancing cultural continuity, strengthening overall protection and adaptive reuse. In 2026, ten provincial-level key areas for historical and cultural protection and utilization will be created. Landscape management in key areas and important sections will be enhanced to shape urban characteristics. Destructive renewal behaviors such as large-scale demolition and construction, demolishing genuine heritage and building fakes must be resolutely forbidden.

The plan also requires leveraging the advantages of special bonds under the "self-review and self-issuance" mechanism. The Jinfurong Investment Fund will be guided to increase investment and the financial institutions encouraged to provide support, broadening investment and financing paths under the premise of strictly controlling implicit government debt. At the same time, legislation will be promoted in the field of urban renewal, improving policy standards for flexible planning control and revitalization of land stock. An expert pool will be established to lead planners, architects, engineers, and appraisers to serve in communities.

By 2028, Hunan will strive to achieve initial results in the transformation of urban development and construction methods, with significantly-improved living environment, a more solid foundation for safe development, and important progress in urban renewal actions.

This article is from Hunan Provincial Government. www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Yu Jiangjiang

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn