Protecting the Environment to Ensure Public Wellbeing

Cities are both hubs where people live and work as well as ecological spaces, and how well they are constructed, developed, and governed is intricately linked to people's sense of fulfillment, happiness, and belonging. The mountain city of Chongqing is improving its ecological spaces to create a livable environment where people live in harmony with each other and with nature. 

Green vistas and parks on your doorstep 

"Having this park right outside our door is so convenient. I walk in the park every morning and afternoon, and I dance in the square at night," Zhu Hong, a local resident who lives next to the Liren Park in Liangjiang New Area, says happily as she makes one of her daily visits to the park, taking along her grandson. 

The Liren Park is full of local residents like Zhu Hong who come here to relax. The park is dotted with trees, flowers, and plants, complete with pavilions, fitness equipment, and trails. It is hard to believe that this space was a barren hillside a year ago. Chongqing's terrain is unique, in that its urban environment is set on steep slopes and precipitous cliffs that are difficult to utilize effectively. The challenge, therefore, has been to work out ways to eliminate "bald spots" in urban landscaping. Chongqing has developed in harmony with its characteristics as a mountain city, laying out buildings and roads according to the contours of the land and carrying out three-dimensional landscaping of its steep terrain. 

"I used to see just a barren slope when I went out, but now I've got a park on my doorstep." The corners of cities are being developed into compact yet sophisticated community parks with sporting and cultural facilities. They offer trails to walk in nature, open areas for dancing, quiet spots to practice Tai Chi, and play areas for children, thereby enriching the lives of local residents. 

A green belt and an active lifestyle 

"We used to do jogging along the running track, but we love coming here now. The beautiful riverside scenery along the path makes it a very good place to jog," explains Wu Jinyu, who exercises on the Beibin Walking Trail and is thoroughly impressed by recent changes. 

The Beibin Walking Trail by the Jialing River is breezy and lined with grass and flowers. During its construction, its position next to Beibin Road was fully leveraged to comprehensively improve the quality of the landscape along the river, while incorporating the sporting slogan "I exercise, I am healthy, and I am happy." Cycle lanes and jogging tracks have been created, which have breathed life into the waterfront, and the area has become a beautiful and colorful space for people's leisure activities. 

The riverside trail is one of Chongqing's many trails, which are not only byways for the city's residents to get around but also important spaces for promoting aspects of local culture and enhancing the image of the city. And the landscaping of these trails has produced a multi-scale and multi-level system for protecting the urban environment. 

In Chongqing, where buildings and roads are laid out according to the contours of the mountainous terrain, corners of the city like slopes and cliffs that were once impossible to utilize effectively have now been turned into compact yet sophisticated community parks. Pictured: Liren Park, which was built by transforming a barren hillside. PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE PUBLICITY DEPARTMENT OF THE CPC CHONGQING MUNICIPAL COMMITTEE 

"Green lungs" and shared ecological wellbeing 

In mid-summer, the yew and camphor trees in Chongqing's Jinyun Mountain National Nature Reserve provide much-needed shade amid a tranquil environment. "This is the 'green lungs' of Chongqing. We must take good care of it," proclaims Li Xinghua, a forestry team leader from Jinyun Village in Beibei District, through his loudspeaker as he patrols the touristy mountain tracks. He is a native of the area who knocked down his three-story home in the reserve after he was told it did not conform to building regulations and moved to the foot of the mountain, becoming a forest ranger and switching from a "consumer" of the mountain to one of its protectors. 

Located in the municipality of Chongqing, the Jinyun Mountain acts as a natural ecological barrier for the city and is a valuable gene bank in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Until recently, villagers and farmers operating guesthouses lived off the land within the nature reserve and sometimes encroached on the forest. 

It is vital to protect clear waters and green hills and at the same time help villagers improve their life while they protect the nature reserve. To this end, Chongqing Municipal authorities have demolished illegal buildings in the reserve, taken a scientific approach to restoring the environment, and helped upgrade qualified farm stays. It has also promoted ecological relocation and developed ecological industries. By offering compensated relocations, integration into the urban social security system, and special training in employment skills, the living conditions of villagers have improved, and they now enjoy greater stability in their new lives. In addition, more and more villagers are being hired as mountain rangers and cleaners in the reserve, becoming veritable ecological guardians. 

A city within a forest, homes within natural parks, and people living in green surroundings—it seems that President Xi Jinping's proposal that urban construction should "rely on existing landscapes and integrate cities with their natural environments so that residents are close to nature and connected to their rural roots" is already a reality here. 

(Originally appeared in Qiushi Journal, Chinese edition, No. 17, 2020)