During his inspection in Chongqing, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "In Chinese modernization, people's livelihood is of paramount importance. All the work of the Party and the government is aimed at enabling the common people to live happier lives." "One thing the Party Central Committee is very concerned about is renovating old residential communities well—replacing the old with the new and improving service facilities. We hope party committees and governments at all levels can invest more financial and material resources in solving livelihood issues, deliver some practical livelihood projects every year, and continuously enhance the people's sense of fulfillment, happiness, and security."

　　The renovation of old residential communities is connected to people's well-being on one end and urban development on the other. It is not only an important part of urban renewal but also carries the people's yearning for a better life. In recent years, China's efforts to promote the renovation of old urban residential communities have achieved remarkable results. From 2019 to 2023, 220,000 old urban residential communities nationwide began renovation, benefiting about 100 million residents.

　　In what areas will the renovation of old residential communities focus next? What useful explorations have emerged in various places? Please see this edition's reports.

　　—The Editors

Chongqing's Houbao Community in Nan'an District Builds a Community Complex

Introducing New Business Forms to Revitalize an Old Community

　　On Nanping Street, by the Yangtze River. Walking along the riverside corridor of Houbao Community, Nanping Subdistrict, Nan'an District, Chongqing, one sees lush banyan trees, well-arranged flowers and shrubs, and brown walls with dark tiles—full of charm. Elderly people drink tea and chat in the courtyard, while young people sip coffee and enjoy the river view—a scene of leisure.

　　Houbao Community was once one of the places with the most vibrant everyday life in Chongqing's memory. It has the most concentrated and largest-scale cluster of 1980s buildings in the main urban area. However, with the passage of time, its facilities aged and it became increasingly dilapidated, and the neighborhood gradually lost its former vitality.

　　By delivering practical livelihood projects, the renovation of old residential communities has given Houbao Community a new look. Li Junjie, deputy director of the Nan'an District Housing and Urban-Rural Development Commission, introduced that the renovation brought in a professional community operation company to turn the area into a unique community complex.

　　Today, the formerly dilapidated exterior walls of residential buildings have been renovated into bright apricot color, the roads are paved with permeable bricks, and an elderly care service station providing medical security and caring meals serves the whole community. The community has regained its vitality. By revitalizing and utilizing idle space in the community and introducing new types of businesses, the old community has become a distinctive commercial block and a public cultural and leisure space shared by residents and tourists. Houbao's old flavor has also been preserved—the old city gate tower "Nanping Pass" has been repaired, and the 1980s buildings have been combined with open-air movies, green-skinned trains, calligraphy and painting kiosks, and more to create the "Super 80s Street," full of character.

　　"Today's Houbao is beautiful and lively, and daily services are more convenient." Huang Lihui, a 74-year-old longtime neighborhood resident, marveled, "Take transportation, for example—after the renovation, the streetlights along the road are especially bright. Some routine repairs in the community are guaranteed by the community fund."

　　Renovating old residential communities is 30 percent construction and 70 percent management. In addition to hardware upgrades, software upgrades in operations also test the sustainability of community governance. The community fund mentioned by residents is the plan Houbao Community has proposed for subsequent operations.

　　"The community operation company introduced after the renovation sets aside a certain proportion of funds each year from commercial rents and operating income as a community fund for public services in the community. By continuously optimizing residents' living environment, not only is life more comfortable, but people are also more united." said Liu Yulong, deputy director of the Nanping Subdistrict Office.

　　Services covered by the community fund include community cleaning, road maintenance, and the repair and replacement of public facilities such as streetlights. "We have explored a 'construction-management-operation integrated' model in which the government builds, the company manages, and merchants operate, enabling Houbao Community to achieve long-term sustainable development," Liu Yulong said.

　　Under this concept, commercial operations and residents' daily lives have formed a virtuous cycle. The beautiful scenery and rich business forms after the renovation continuously attract citizens and tourists to visit and spend, bringing prosperity and increasing merchants' income; commercial profits in turn give back to the community and help maintain the renovation results. Merchants and residents jointly participate in community building. At present, Houbao Community has about 250 merchants serving more than 20,000 residents, covering coffee shops, tea houses, community bookstores, and many other business forms.

　　Wu Longquan, who has been in the coffee business for more than 10 years, took a fancy to Houbao Community, which was about to complete renovation, last year. "The first time I came to Houbao, I was infected by the atmosphere here," Wu Longquan said. His coffee shop officially opened in Houbao early this year, selling an average of 120 to 130 cups of coffee per day, with the number doubling on holidays.

　　Some time-honored brands that have operated in Houbao for many years are also regaining vitality under the guidance of the community operation company. Xiangyaju is a 20-year-old community restaurant in Houbao, whose business mostly comes from familiar neighborhood customers. Not long ago, through the community operation company's "lunch blind box plan," Xiangyaju upgraded its store brand and product packaging to be younger and more fashionable, distributing lunches in blind box form to office workers in nearby office buildings to attract traffic. "Now more and more young people come to my store to spend. Every day at lunch and dinner the store is completely packed," said boss Ran Yi with a smile.

　　Beyond running his business, Wu Longquan also voluntarily beautifies the community's public space, arranging small gardens and adding tables and chairs to the courtyard, jointly making Houbao Community more beautiful. Young people's lifestyle has also given the community's "elders" a fresh impression. "Some retired uncles and aunties have also fallen in love with drinking coffee, and several aunties have even opened membership cards at our store," Wu Longquan said.

　　Yang Li, Party secretary of Houbao Community, recently discovered with delight that many old residents who had moved away are gradually moving back to Houbao, while young people from the city are also continuously attracted to live here. "Now 75 percent of the tenants in Houbao Community are young people in their twenties and thirties. Old residents and new citizens get along harmoniously, and the community is increasingly vibrant," Yang Li said.

Renovation of Guojing Community in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Lets Residents "Play the Leading Role"

Suggestions Before Renovation, Acceptance After Satisfaction

　　On a summer day, at Guojing Community, Tianyuan Subdistrict, Xinhua District, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, the small leisure square is bustling. Tall plane trees cast dense green shade. Wang Mei, a community resident sitting nearby to cool off, smiled and said, "The community now has a completely new look, and living here is more and more comfortable." Yet just over a year ago, residents were still troubled by various problems caused by aging facilities.

　　Guojing Community was built in 1996, with 3 residential buildings and 120 households. Wang Mei listed the inconveniences before the renovation: "The buildings are aging, parking space is crowded, the sewers are often blocked, and there are especially many mosquitoes—lift a cover, and even in winter a large swarm of mosquitoes flies out. And for those living on the top floor, their homes leak whenever it rains."

　　"This roof leaking is really unpleasant!" resident Jiu Zhifeng chimed in. "When it rains, water backs up into the basement, sometimes up to the ankles."

　　Zhang Lijun, the person in charge of the community property management, recalled: "In the past two years, what I feared most was rain. Whenever it rained, we had to carry water pumps to pump water out of the basement."

　　Patching and repairing is indeed troublesome. How can old residential communities regain vitality? In 2023, residents heard good news: Guojing Community was included by Xinhua District in an old residential community renovation project. The community group chat cheered repeatedly, and what to renovate and how to renovate became a hot topic among residents.

　　Li Peige, the person in charge of old residential community renovation at the Xinhua District Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau of Shijiazhuang, said: "Only those who live in the houses know them. In renovating old residential communities, residents should 'play the leading role.'" Xinhua District adapted measures to local conditions and fully respected residents' wishes during the renovation. Through the "Hebei Old Residential Community Renovation" mini-program, it extensively collected residents' preliminary opinions and suggestions on the renovation as an important reference for designing the renovation.

　　In April 2023, the Xinhua District Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau, together with the Tianyuan Subdistrict Office and the community residents' committee, organized design units and more than 10 resident representatives including Wang Mei to hold a pre-renovation discussion meeting, so that everyone could speak and discuss any problems face to face.

　　"The damaged exterior facades of the buildings and the walls in the corridors in our community need to be repaired."

　　"The community environment should be beautiful and also safe. The western wall has already tilted—when can it be 'straightened'?"

　　"Bicycles have no sheds, and cars lack parking spaces. Build what should be built and fix what should be fixed."

　　…………

　　Residents vied with one another to offer suggestions for the renovation. Personnel from relevant departments listened and took notes while discussing together with everyone. Taking residents' opinions into comprehensive account, the renovation of Guojing Community officially began.

　　Residents watched the construction at their doorsteps and thought it over, communicating promptly with the subdistrict and community cadres working on site and dynamically adjusting renovation items.

　　"The original plan was to add fitness facilities in the community, but residents pointed out that there is a park right across from the community with abundant fitness facilities, so the fitness area was changed into parking spaces that everyone needed; the original plan was to install new streetlight poles in the community, but residents said that new light poles cost money and take up space, and it would be better to use the existing heating pipe supports and convert them into light poles—economical and practical! Good suggestions were adopted one by one," said Feng Libin, director of the Community Construction and Property Supervision and Management Office of Tianyuan Subdistrict.

　　Gathering people's wisdom and solving people's worries. In October 2023, the renovation of Guojing Community was basically completed. A questionnaire survey showed that residents' satisfaction was as high as 90 percent, and the acceptance was successfully completed.

　　In recent years, Hebei has promoted the high-quality renovation of old urban residential communities, mobilizing residents to participate in the entire renovation process. Before renovation, a community can be included for renovation only after more than 80 percent of residents agree; during renovation, a renovation plan can be formulated only after soliciting the wishes of more than 80 percent of residents; after renovation, completion acceptance can be organized only after more than 80 percent of residents are satisfied—truly realizing that "whether to renovate, how to renovate, and whether the renovation is good" is decided by residents. In this process, resident representatives are invited to participate in the whole process, residents' opinions are fully heard, and a sound operating mechanism for old residential community renovation is established.

　　According to statistics, since 2018, Hebei Province has completed the renovation of more than 13,000 old urban residential communities, effectively improving the living environment of 2.51 million households. In 2024, Hebei continues to list the renovation of old urban residential communities as one of the 20 key livelihood projects implemented by the provincial party committee and provincial government, planning to complete the renovation of 827 old residential communities.

Changban Community in Dangyang, Hubei Frees Up Public Space

Improving Supporting Facilities and Building Complete Communities

　　On an early summer weekend, Changban Community Park in Yuyang Subdistrict, Dangyang, Hubei, is full of vitality: adults compete on the gateball court, and children play in the recreation area... A few years ago, this was a different scene: walls of varying heights could be seen everywhere, vehicles were parked haphazardly, roads were congested, and facilities were aging.

　　Feng Tao, Party secretary of the Yuyang Subdistrict Party Working Committee, introduced that Changban Community is located in the old urban area in the city center and was originally composed of dormitories of 37 units, with more than 4,500 residents. In 2023, Dangyang divided the central urban area into 20 zones and implemented a "one zone, one policy" old residential community renovation plan, and the zone where Changban Community is located was one of them.

　　Yuyang Subdistrict immediately organized resident representatives from various communities to hold a discussion meeting. "Everyone put forward many suggestions, such as adding parking spaces, adding fitness equipment, and building sports venues, but most communities have limited space and it is difficult to meet residents' needs," Feng Tao said.

　　"Why not tear down the walls between the units and merge them into one large community?" one resident suggested. After repeated discussion, the subdistrict considered this approach feasible—the 37 communities are closely connected, and only by tearing down the walls can public space be freed up, resource sharing realized, and community governance facilitated.

　　Combining old residential community renovation with the building of complete communities, and in accordance with the Guidelines for the Construction of Complete Residential Communities issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Dangyang Urban Construction Investment Group put forward a renovation plan: tear down illegal walls, renovate roads and pipe networks, build a series of supporting facilities, and create a "15-minute convenient living circle."

　　　　The plan is set, but how to solve the funding problem?

　　"In addition to special funds allocated by higher authorities, the government has also integrated and packaged all communities eligible for renovation into one major project, granted the franchise rights for businesses such as parking lots, charging piles, and advertising to the Urban Construction Investment Group, and used expected future operating income to obtain bank financing loans as funding guarantees for old residential community renovation," introduced Hu Yuanming, director of the Dangyang Real Estate Security Center. So far, various business forms across the city under the Urban Construction Investment Group's franchise have generated cumulative income of 30.06 million yuan.

　　After the communities were merged, a large area of public space was freed up, and a health-themed park welcomed by citizens was quickly built. Near the park, a building named "Xinyi Xiaochu" can seat more than 100 people for meals. Upstairs from the canteen, a community home-based elderly care service center has also begun to take shape, equipped not only with activity rooms but also able to provide daytime care services such as cleaning assistance and medical assistance for the elderly.

　　"In the past, going to the market to buy groceries took more than half an hour of detouring; now it takes only 10 minutes to cut through the community, and I can also eat in the canteen and take a stroll in the park along the way," said He Xuezheng, a 72-year-old man.

　　Facilities are complete and the environment is beautiful, but new problems have emerged—how to handle later maintenance? Who will manage it? The merged Changban Community has 1,824 households, and it is difficult to support the maintenance of the entire community relying solely on residents' self-governance. At the community discussion meeting in October 2023, residents reached a consensus: bring in a property management company to implement unified management of the community.

　　Hu Yuanming introduced that Dangyang established a City Investment Property Service Co., Ltd., and through various methods such as market-oriented property management, public-welfare property management as a fallback, owners' self-governance, and unit trusteeship, it promotes full coverage of property services in renovated old residential communities.

　　The changes in Changban Community are a microcosm. In recent years, Hubei Province has vigorously promoted the building of complete communities, improved supporting services for the 15-minute living circle, and enhanced community service and management capabilities. Recently, the Hubei Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development issued the first batch of the Case Collection on Promoting Urban Renewal with Complete Communities as the Focus, striving to quickly form a list of major policies and experience that can be replicated and promoted.

　　"We will benchmark against complete community standards and strive to achieve a coverage rate of more than 30 percent for complete communities in cities at and above the prefecture level across the province by 2025," said Yu Zibai, director of the Urban Construction Division of the Hubei Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.