China in a Decade: New Urbanization Strategy Enhances Quality of City Development

IV. Ecological civilization in urban areas resulting in a better living environment

1. Green development leads to better quality of life in cities

It has now become the consensus of the entire CPC and the Chinese society that “lush mountains and lucid waters are mountains of gold and silver”. With this guiding philosophy, China entered a new era with the “beautiful China” initiative. At the end of 2020, the green area of cities above prefecture level were 2.59 million hectares, an increase of 38.2% compared with the end of 2012; among them, the green area of parks reached 640,000 hectares, up 48.6%. Urban waste recycling and renewable use system were quickly established. At the end of 2020, 46 key cities had built up the classification and treatment system for domestic waste, covering 96% residential community.

2. Greater efforts against pollution with gradual improvement of environmental quality

In 2020, cities above prefecture level spent 283 billion yuan on energy conservation and environmental protection, an increase of 134% over 2012. In 2021, the ratio of good-air-quality days in cities above prefecture level reached 87.5%, up 0.5 percentage points over the previous year, and the average concentration of PM2.5 was 30 micrograms per cubic meter, down 9.1% over the previous year.

3. Accelerated pace of urban renewal creating comfortable living environment

As China’s urbanization advances, urban development has shifted from large-scale incremental construction to quality enhancement and structural adjustment. Between 2019 and 2021, a total of 115,000 old neighborhoods were renovated nationwide, benefiting more than 20 million residents.