On October 27, along the Yixi River in Hejie Community, Jingzhou, a smooth plastic-wood boardwalk winds along the riverbank. Solar-powered street lamps stand in neat rows, while green trees, leisure seats and landscape features are scattered at intervals. Many residents stroll and chat along the riverside trail. The transformation of this waterfront corridor is a vivid example of Jingzhou’s urban renewal philosophy: conduct urban diagnostics first before carrying out renewal, and avoid large-scale demolition and reconstruction. By identifying people’s livelihood pain-points through urban health checks, the city is addressing the shortcomings of its old town through targeted, acupuncture-style micro-renovations.
The community boasts a long history and sits at the heart of the county’s old town, with the Yixi River running through the urban area. Before the renovation, the waterfront space in this block was severely fragmented, and the riverside footpaths were disjointed, leaving residents with no nearby venues for leisure activities.
As the county pushed forward urban health checks, staff from the County Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau walked deep into alleys, visited households, distributed questionnaires, and widely solicited public opinions. Residents’ demands to improve riverside public space and add more leisure facilities were included on the urban renewal project list.
The project strictly adhered to the bottom line of no demolition of old houses and preservation of the hustle and bustle of old streets. The waterfront landscape upgrade along the Yixi River and the renovation of old residential compounds in Hejie Community were planned as a whole and implemented simultaneously
The project team optimized the construction plan in light of local conditions. Durable and eco-friendly plastic-wood material was adopted for the riverside footpaths, and solar street lamps were installed along the entire riverfront. The development includes waterside walkways, rest platforms and street green landscapes. Scattered landmarks such as Wangjiang Tower and Yixi Garden have been linked together, connecting fragmented waterfront spaces to form a continuous and unobstructed slow-traffic corridor.
Surrounding the goal of building an ecologically livable county seat, the county coordinates urban and rural spatial layout and develops a mountain-and-river conservation framework of “one ecological barrier, two mountain ranges and three corridors”.
Taking riverside slow-traffic systems and pocket park micro-renovations as key measures, the county has built 1.9 kilometres of new trails along the Qushui River, upgraded four waterfront piers, and added five new pocket parks in the urban area. The urban green coverage rate now stands at 43.8%. These efforts continuously consolidate the city’s green ecological foundation and steadily improve the living environment of the county seat.
Zhong Jinguo, 63, has lived in the community for most of his life and witnessed the transformation unfolding right at his doorstep. “I grew up here in Hejie and have watched the area around the Yixi River get better little by little. Now the paths are smooth and brightly lit, making life in the old town ever more pleasant.”
Urban renewal revamps the environment and warms people’s hearts. As one of China’s first batch of counties to carry out urban health checks and a pilot county for building livable county seats, Jingzhou has established a closed-loop working mechanism: urban health assessment–planning formulation–project implementation–effect evaluation.
Targeting the most pressing concerns of residents identified through these assessments, the county prioritises micro-renovations and minor quality upgrades to shore up weaknesses in livelihood infrastructure such as footpaths and green spaces. A host of pocket parks and riverside green trails have been completed and opened one after another. While preserving the distinctive street vitality of the old town, these projects keep improving the living environment.
Today, the waterfront landscape belt has become a newly popular leisure and photo spot for local residents. Livelihood projects translated directly from the urban health check list keep improving and enhancing Jingzhou’s reputation as an ecologically livable county seat.
(Translated by Dong Yue)