Massive greening of metropolis continues with fast pace
As an important ecological barrier at the upper reaches of Yangtze River, Chengdu is working on a new mode for city development driven by ecological progress. As a result, the color green has become the dominant tone of the city.
Chengdu is constructing a beautiful and livable garden city based on the new development concept. The Tianfu Greenway is a good example.
In May 2017, Chengdu initiated the construction of the greenway — to build the longest urban greenway worldwide. It links parks, grassland and other ecological regions across the city. It is expected that the whole greenway, stretching 16,900 kilometers, will be completed by 2035. By that time, Chengdu will become a giant garden with an area of 14,600 square kilometers.
At the same time, the Longquan Mountain in eastern Chengdu will be built into a super-large urban forest garden, whose area of up to 1,275 sq km will be similar to that of 1.7 central urban areas.
In May, the city unveiled its first garden-like city block, whose gray concrete walls were redecorated with various plants and colorful graffiti.
This year, the central urban areas of Chengdu will roll out 26 such revamped city blocks, 36 mini parks and mini grasslands, as well as planting of 630,000 hibiscuses, the city flower of Chengdu.
Chengdu will also delimit the area for ecological protection, based on the plan to provide an ecological protection red line set by the province, and the city will erect more signs and notices to help raise public awareness about environmental protection.
According to the plan, the red line areas cover 12 districts and counties in Chengdu with an area of 1,182.09 sq km, about 8.25 percent of the whole area of the city.
As one of the first batch of five International Pilot Cities of Sustainable Development, Chengdu is mapping out its own paths to development and sharing its experience with cities worldwide.
Officials said the city is encouraging greener traffic, based on an improving public traffic network. It’s estimated that the city’s public transport currently contributes 53 percent of the total motorized trips of all its residents. By the end of June, Chengdu had opened six subway lines. With the subway and bus system becoming optimized, residents are increasingly choosing public transport, officials added.
In November 2017, the city introduced special plates for new energy vehicles. By June, the number of NEVs had reached 46,620.
Shared traffic modes, such as pooled bikes, are also booming in the city following initiatives backed by the local government. The number of companies providing these services reached 12 by the end of 2017.
In addition to transportation, Chengdu is also promoting the idea of going green on eating. Last year, the city helped 466 barbecue restaurants to convert to clean energy from using coal, to reduce the smoke and provide a better experience for customers.
The project was included in typical cases in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and uploaded on the official website of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Chengdu is also constructing an energy system featuring clean, low-carbon, safe and high-efficiency energy sources. Coal and gas are being replaced by electricity. Solar power and other green energy sources are being adopted in order to reduce coal consumption. The city has removed 889 coal-fired boilers to decrease carbon dioxide emission by 2.3 million metric tons annually.
The city has also moved to adopt green production.
Growth of industrial added value in Chengdu increased by 8 percent from January to June. At the same time, the overall energy consumption of industrial enterprises above a designated size, dropped 15.8 percent.
More companies in the city are operating in a green and low-carbon way, said a local official, adding that emissionreductions and energy-saving are key to tackling pollution.
The development of green economy is underway. Chengdu said it would promote development of nine green industries, such as new energy, green buildings, green logistics, green finance and new energy vehicles.
Officials said that by 2022, the green economy would be an important pillar of the city’s economic structure. By then, revenue from green and low-carbon manufacturing is expected to top 300 billion yuan ($43.3 billion), making Chengdu a nationwide pioneer in the green economy.