China Plans 115,000 Old Residential Community Renovations Under 15th Five-Year Plan

On September 18, 2026, the State Council Information Office held a press conference in its series on the start of the 15th Five-Year Plan. Zhang Qiang, director of the Urban Management Supervision Bureau of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, presented arrangements for urban renewal. The outline of the national 15th Five-Year Plan explicitly calls for high-quality urban renewal, and the State Council has issued the 15th Five-Year Plan for Urban Renewal, which sets out 10 development indicators, 23 key tasks and 14 major projects, providing comprehensive guidance on what urban renewal should do and how it should be carried out. The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development will work with relevant departments to improve supporting policies on planning, land use, taxation and finance, strengthen statistical surveys and monitoring and evaluation, and guide local authorities in carrying out the work thoroughly and in detail to ensure the targets are met.

During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, urban renewal will focus on three areas. In livelihood projects, China will begin renovation of 115,000 old urban residential communities, implement complete community construction and renovation in 5,000 communities, update and install 575,000 residential elevators, and build or upgrade 50,000 hectares of urban green space, advancing these through the "four good" initiative to create high-quality living spaces for residents. In development projects, investment in physical assets and in people will be coordinated, and a number of urban renewal projects will be implemented to help expand effective investment and stimulate consumer vitality. These include the renovation and upgrading of 1,500 old commercial districts and factory areas, the introduction of new industries and new business forms, and the revitalization and use of existing resources to inject new momentum into urban development. In safety projects, work will proceed in an orderly manner on the renovation of dilapidated housing, the transformation of urban villages, and the construction and upgrading of urban underground pipeline networks. The construction of urban infrastructure lifeline safety projects will be deepened, with real-time monitoring, dynamic early warning and effective handling of operational risks to strengthen urban safety and resilience.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development will promote the establishment of four mechanisms. The first is an integrated mechanism for urban health checks and urban renewal, treating problems identified in health checks as priorities for urban renewal. The second is a mechanism for implementing urban renewal plans, establishing a system that runs from special plans to area plans and then to project implementation plans. The third is a sustainable investment and financing mechanism for urban renewal, increasing government investment while leveraging market forces. The fourth is a mechanism for organically integrating urban renewal with historical and cultural preservation. At the same time, legislation on urban renewal will be accelerated and the standards system improved to provide solid institutional support for high-quality urban renewal.

The 15th Five-Year Plan for Urban Renewal formally states that urban development is shifting from a stage of large-scale incremental expansion to one focused on improving the quality and efficiency of existing assets. The plan specifies the targets, indicators, key tasks, major projects and policy measures for urban renewal during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, and devotes a special chapter to detailed arrangements for the policy system. The key tasks cover seven areas: cultivating and strengthening new momentum for urban development, creating high-quality urban living spaces, promoting the green and low-carbon transformation of urban development, enhancing urban safety and resilience, promoting the prosperity and development of urban culture, improving the level of urban governance capacity, and improving the policy system for urban renewal.