Shanghai's Changning District aims to finish renovating by 2020 its old residential buildings where residents are still using shared kitchens and toilets, the head of the district said yesterday.
The downtown district has a total of 6,400 households or 246,000 square meters of old residential buildings that the government will renovate to improve the residents' living environment, said Gu Honghui, director with the district.
Gu, in an interview with Shanghai Radio Station, added the renovation is part of the district's efforts to develop Changning into an "international quality district."
Two residential buildings at the Tianshanwucun Community built in 1950s have become the first batch to complete the renovation where separate toilet and kitchens were incorporated for each household.
The public areas were decorated with ceramic tiles, and electric wiring and pipelines were rearranged to make the public areas tidier, the district government said. Many illegal structures set up by residents on roofs and courtyards were demolished.
The renovation campaign has been launched on over 80,000 square meters of old residential houses in the nearby Tianyi and Ziyun communities.
Furthermore, the district government is cleaning up its waterways and building a "greenery belt" along the Outer Ring Road near Hongqiao International Airport to improve the environment, Gu said.
The district government has eliminated the pollution source of all its 33 rivers through the "river chief," scheme, he said.
Three rivers in the district, Xinyupu, Xinjinggang and Jichang, remain polluted so the government will use water plants and microorganisms to clear the water later this year, he added.
The 5.5-kilometer-long greenery belt is under construction along the Outer Ring Road.
The belt will be covered by trees and shrubs to make visitors feel like they are entering a forest, Gu said.
Nine sightseeing pedestrian bridges will be built to span rivers and creeks within the belt.
