Nature to nurture outlook in Chengdu
Panda Rongrong is your guide in this series on Chengdu, which in this issue showcases the park city’s charm through its constant efforts in improving its environment. Chengdu has dedicated its all-around infrastructure including parks, greenways and transportation in a bid to shape a new and high-quality city development model. It has also carried out a sustainable development philosophy through the building of modern international communities.
Is there a metropolis anywhere in the world where 10 million people can enjoy a snow-capped mountain view?
Yes is the answer: Chengdu, the capital city of Southwest China’s Sichuan province.
Some 62 miles away from downtown Chengdu, there is Xiling Snow Mountain with a height of more than 16,400 feet.
According to photography enthusiasts, there are no less than 10 peaks around Chengdu that can be seen from different parts of the city.
Chi Ajuan, a notable photographer living in Chengdu, skims through her WeChat Moments every morning.
On sunny days, there are always a lot of her friends sharing pictures of the snowy mountains.
With an improvement in the ecological environment in recent years, it has become routine for people in Chengdu to post photos of the beautiful mountains online.
“In Chengdu, you can enjoy the snowy mountains, rivers, greenways and flowers from your balcony,” Chi said. Having a cup of tea after a stressful day at work and sitting by the window to enjoy the view is a common way for her to relax.
Meanwhile, the development and changes outside her window always amaze her. “In particular, the continuous spread of greenways makes the highrise buildings look more gentle and green,” Chi said.
In recent years, there have been more parks and lakes built close to her home. The harmony among people, nature and the city in Chengdu is further enhanced, Chi added. She feels that the city is becoming more like a park.
Chi’s personal feelings come on the back of Chengdu’s efforts to promote the construction of a “park city”.
The park city concept was created in Chengdu in early 2018 and refers to an upgraded city management philosophy. It features a high-level of harmonious development among people, city and industry and responds to people’s yearning for a better life.
To open up a new space for its sustainable urban development, Chengdu stretched out across Longquan Mountain, which is located in the east part of the city, and established a provincial-level new district.
As scheduled, the whole of Longquan Mountain will be developed into a large-scale urban forest park with a total area spanning about 492.28 square miles.
In addition, Chengdu has planned a 10,500-mile-long greenway, called Tianfu.
Winding across the whole city, the Tianfu Greenway is by far the longest planned urban greenway system in the world, according to the local government.
After completion, the greenway will connect ecological areas, parks, small amusement parks and micro green spaces in Chengdu. It will become the “skeleton” for Chengdu’s construction of a beautiful and livable park city across 5,405 square miles.
By May this year, Chengdu had completed 2,292 miles of greenway, with 15.06 square miles of new green space and a forest coverage rate of 39.93%. The first batch of 76 demonstration zones that covers 22 districts and counties and three new industrials towns has also been established.
Meanwhile, Chengdu is speeding up construction of a green transportation system.
The city has planned and constructed 14 transit-oriented development demonstration projects as of May, with a total range of rail transit reaching 211.89 miles.
The projects use public transportation stations as district centers. Within a radius of 0.25-0.5 miles from the centers the city is to construct comprehensive areas integrating offices, commerce, culture, education and residences.
While forging itself into a park city, Chengdu is working on innovating and promoting the transformation of its ecology into economic and social value.
With a raft of fashion shows, theme parks and creative markets flourishing alongside the Tianfu Greenway, Chengdu is to provide its residents with enriched shopping and leisure areas.
Jincheng Park has been built along the freeway around the central city of Chengdu, which is an important part of the Tianfu Greenway.
The massive park comprises 121 sub-parks, each of which has its own development orientation, aiming to offer more shopping sites and leisure opportunities to locals.
According to the city’s development plan, Jincheng Park will have a greenway at a total length of 310.69 miles, a high-level supporting service system and an ecological agriculture area covering 38.61 square miles.
In the future, the park will be a flexible and versatile place for people to enjoy recreation and entertainment.
Chengdu has also planned a greenway stretching 149.13 miles along the Jinjiang River, which runs through the city.
As a component of the Tianfu Greenway system, the Jinjiang greenway will embrace commerce, tourism and ecological sightseeing to take the lead in developing the nighttime economy in Chengdu.
“To promote sustainable development through the creative transformation of ecological value is a distinctive feature of park cities’ development concept and is different from that of traditional cities,” a local official said.
“By forging itself into a park city, Chengdu will strive to realize high-quality development and improve the city’s reputation and residents’ sense of happiness.”