China Issues 15th Five-Year Urban Renewal Plan After Renovating 240,000 Old Communities

China's urbanization is transitioning from a phase of rapid growth to one of stable development, with urban development shifting from large-scale expansion toward stock optimization and quality enhancement. Cities across the country are using urban renewal as a key lever to optimize urban structures, transform growth drivers, improve quality, advance green transition, preserve cultural heritage, and enhance governance efficiency. Qin Haixiang, Vice Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, said that during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, localities cumulatively renovated more than 240,000 old urban residential communities, benefiting approximately 110 million residents. This included the installation of 129,000 elevators, the addition of 64,000 community service facilities for elderly care and childcare, the construction of over 18,000 pocket parks and 25,000 kilometers of urban greenways, and the building or upgrading of 1 million kilometers of underground urban pipeline networks. The working mechanisms, implementation models, and policy frameworks for urban renewal have been steadily improved.

In May 2026, the State Council issued the Urban Renewal Plan for the 15th Five-Year Plan period, setting out the timetable, task list, and roadmap for urban renewal over the next five years. By 2030, urban renewal initiatives are expected to achieve significant progress, with initial results in the transformation of urban development and construction models, a more solid foundation for safety and security, improved service efficiency, notably better living environments, accelerated transition between old and new growth drivers, effective protection of cultural heritage, more distinctive urban character, and substantially enhanced governance capacity. The plan identifies six priority tasks: cultivating new momentum for urban development, creating high-quality urban living spaces, advancing green and low-carbon urban transformation, strengthening urban safety and resilience, promoting urban cultural prosperity, and improving urban governance capabilities. It also outlines 14 major projects and initiatives, including the construction of quality housing, renovation of old urban residential communities, development of complete communities, upgrading of old neighborhoods and industrial zones, and improvement of municipal infrastructure.

The plan states that China will build a sustainable investment and financing system for urban construction and operation, improve fiscal support policies, optimize financial support measures, and actively attract social capital participation.

Promoting the four-good initiative — good housing, good residential communities, good neighborhoods, and good urban areas — is a key approach to creating high-quality living spaces. In housing construction, the focus is on implementing housing quality improvement projects, building and renovating safe, comfortable, green, and smart homes, raising the quality of new housing, and upgrading housing standards, design, materials, construction, and maintenance across the entire chain. Efforts will also target the renovation of old housing, the promotion of prefabricated decoration and age-friendly and accessibility renovations, and support for voluntary renewal of old homes. For residential communities, the plan calls for renovating old urban communities, upgrading supporting infrastructure such as gas, water supply, heating, and roads, installing elevators in eligible buildings where conditions permit, improving long-term community management mechanisms alongside renovation work, and encouraging the introduction of property management services. The upgrading of old neighborhoods and industrial zones will drive functional transformation, business format upgrades, and vitality enhancement, while filling gaps in infrastructure and public services.

For urban areas, the plan emphasizes fully utilizing existing resources to address shortfalls in public service facilities, increasing investment in the construction and renovation of elderly care, childcare, cultural, and sports facilities, optimizing road network structures, improving traffic efficiency, and addressing parking shortages.

Urban renewal serves as a critical vehicle for expanding domestic demand, stabilizing investment, and boosting consumption. Renovation of old residential communities, elevator installation, redevelopment of urban villages and dilapidated housing, underground pipeline upgrades, smart pipeline network transformation, and preservation of historical heritage will all drive substantial investment. Urban renewal spans multiple sectors, including building materials, machinery and equipment, smart city technologies, and green energy efficiency, and is characterized by large investment scale, long industrial chains, and strong multiplier effects. On the consumption side, urban renewal improves residents' living environments and reshapes urban consumption scenarios, unlocking diverse demand across home renovation, household appliances and furniture, community services, and cultural tourism and leisure.