Urban construction in the Dehong prefecture sped up in the late 1970s and 1980s with the start of economic reform in China.

By the end of 1992, the average housing space per family reached to 79.9 square meters. With the completion of 10 water supply factories, the water supply capacity amounted to 440,000 tons per day. 14 public parks and 49 urban forests or 'greenbelts' were built, with the greenbelt per capita up to 6.59 square meters.

From 2000 to 2005, Dehong carried out some major projects in urban construction. In Mangshi city, a sports center with an investment of 1.5 b yuan was put into use; a sewage treatment plant and a garbage disposal plant were also built. In Ruili City, 51.85 m yuan was used to update the urban roads; wide greenbelts were set up along both sides of Ruilijiang River. In Yingjiang county, a shopping center with a building area of 35,000 square meters was established.

During the past few years, Dehong continued to upscale its urban infrastructures with its focus on a reasonable layout of the whole city. 90 kilometres of urban highways were built or restored. 7 public parks were added to the city greenbelt system. Updating of the water supply system was carried out in Mangshi city, Ruili city, and Longchuan county.

With the completion of Luxi Garbage Disposal Plant，Luxi Sewage Treatment Plant, and Ruili Sewage Treatment Plant, the waste disposal capacity was improved to 150 tons per day, and sewage disposal capacity was improved to 250,000 tons per day.