Urban renewal brings a new lease of life to city's inefficient land

Reconstruction of inefficient areas in Qingdao, Shandong province, is a key focus of the city's three-year urban renewal campaign launched at the beginning of 2022, local officials said.

Inefficient areas refer to places with an unreasonable layout of urban facilities, weak industries and insufficient growth momentum.

This year, the city has implemented 391 related projects, with total investment exceeding 120 billion yuan ($16.8 billion).

In addition to redeveloping 10 key inefficient areas, Qingdao has managed to improve overall land use planning, optimize designs and build more supporting facilities in another 10 inefficient areas via strengthened coordination among government agencies at different levels.

These include several industrial parks, one of which is Jiulong Industrial Park in Jiaozhou, a county-level city administered by Qingdao. Before the campaign, the park was home to 128 small and medium-sized companies, and had an annual output value of just 1.8 billion yuan.

To realize the intensive and efficient use of resources in these areas, Qingdao has established a group of new industrial zones centering on its 24 key industry chains.

Currently, the zones specializing in virtual reality, new-generation semiconductor displays, artificial intelligence, and green and low-carbon new materials have finished construction and attracted more than 150 companies.

Also, a batch of key projects including an AI innovation center and an intelligent manufacturing base of Haier refrigerators are under or have just finished construction in newly built industrial zones.

The Haier manufacturing base, for example, recently completed its first construction phase. It is expected to produce more than 26 million smart refrigerators annually, with an output value of 40 billion yuan, and provide jobs to 18,000 people.

Another key project of the three-year campaign is a twin-tower complex built by China Railway Construction Engineering Group in Qingdao West Coast New Area. The project, which was inaugurated in 2021, covers a total construction area of more than 240,000 square meters.

Earlier in December, construction on the main structure of one of the twin towers with a height of 172.4 meters was finished. When completed, the complex will become the highest building and a landmark of the new area. It will serve such business forms as intelligent manufacturing, financial services and industrial exchanges.

Other efforts Qingdao has made this year to promote the campaign is the renovation of 473 old residential communities citywide. The initiative has not only provided a better life for residents, but effectively increased their sense of gain and happiness, local officials said.