Industrial city in NE China charts new path of higher-quality development

An old residential building in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning province, is equipped with elevators. (Photo/Huang Jinkun)

A series of upgrades -- from newly insulated exterior walls and modernized utility pipelines to added stairwell handrails and the conversion of an abandoned boiler room into a community activity center -- has brought visible changes to Chang'an community in Dadong district, Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning province.

Local resident Sun Jiabao confirms these improvements have reshaped neighborhood living. Built more than 30 years ago, the community was once synonymous with poor sanitation and rundown conditions. The 2023 renovation program successfully revitalized the area.

Aging public facilities, inadequate supporting services, and subpar urban greenery are common challenges faced by many old industrial cities in the course of development. As one of China's earliest-established cities with a high urbanization rate, Shenyang has in recent years taken urban renewal as a key lever, exploring a new path toward quality-driven, intensive development.

Shenyang has a large number of old urban areas. Of the city's more than 6,500 residential communities, over half are classified as old neighborhoods. Renovating these areas is a crucial part of the broader urban renewal campaign. Over the past five years, Shenyang has renovated 1,823 old residential communities, benefiting 803,000 households. More than 1,600 elevators have been installed or upgraded, improving mobility for over 110,000 residents.

Upgrading aging utility networks is equally important. "The city's gas pipeline network stretches over 10,000 kilometers, and some sections have been in operation for many years, posing potential safety risks," said Guo Zhengxue, deputy director of the Shenyang municipal bureau of housing and urban-rural development.

Photo taken on Dec. 11, 2025 shows the Shenyang Imperial Palace after a snowfall in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning province. (Photo/Zou Xinjiang)

Over the past five years, the city has renovated more than 1,350 kilometers of aging gas pipelines. By 2025, gas-related safety incidents had fallen by over 70 percent compared with 2021, significantly improving overall safety. During the same period, Shenyang also completed renovations of 1,933 kilometers of water supply pipelines, 393 kilometers of drainage pipelines, and 844 kilometers of heating pipelines, greatly enhancing the city's safety and resilience.

As physical improvements take shape, community services evolve in tandem. Cao Xue, Party head of Chang'an community, explained how needs-based assessments now guide their elder-care system. The community now offers 25 professional services, including meal delivery, bathing assistance, and rehabilitation training, either free of charge or at low cost.

Urban livability extends to green spaces. On the south side of Wenti West Road in Heping district, a long-abandoned plot of land has been transformed into a pocket park. Winding paths run through the space, which is equipped with bar counters and seating areas. Today, 3,198 compact, well-designed pocket parks with diverse functions are scattered throughout Shenyang. Statistics show that over the past five years, the city has added 16.9 square kilometers of urban green space, bringing its green coverage rate to 40.74 percent.

Residents visit a cultural complex transformed from industrial remains in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning province, Dec. 6, 2025. (Photo/Huang Jinkun)

Moving from simply expanding greenery to keeping areas green year-round tests a city's capacity for refined management. At Shenyang's centralized urban management command center, large digital screens display real-time data on the maintenance of parks and green spaces across the city, making park locations and vegetation conditions visible at a glance.

The Shenyang Fangcheng cultural tourism area exemplifies heritage integration, containing both the Shenyang Imperial Palace and over 16,000 households. This seamless blend of historical sites, commercial zones, and residential spaces raises preservation questions: How to renew while retaining authentic character?

Shenyang's approach includes restoring facades of 359 buildings, removing more than 1.35 million meters of abandoned cables, adding over 1,100 landscape features, and turning 67 historical alleys into themed cultural experience corridors. By prioritizing original-appearance restoration, the city maximizes historical continuity.

Cultural revitalization complements physical renewal. To date, the Shenyang Fangcheng cultural tourism area has 54 inaugural stores -- the first store of a brand in the region -- along with more than 170 flagship and experience stores. It has also developed three nighttime economy scenarios, including folk culture-themed zones. The share of experiential cultural tourism formats has risen from just 3 percent to 46 percent.

Shenyang's profound industrial heritage presents another key task for urban renewal: how to breathe new life into industrial relics.

On Xinghua North Street in Tiexi district stands a steel-framed factory building with a distinctive sawtooth roof. Once the No. 2 metalworking workshop of the former Shenyang Heavy Machinery Factory, it has now been transformed into a cultural and creative park, drawing visitors for exhibitions and performances and offering a vibrant artistic atmosphere.

"Old factory buildings are solidified history, but they are also valuable resources for promoting urban renewal. With proper renovation and operation, industrial rust belts can be transformed into stages for everyday life," said Liu Kebin, vice mayor of Shenyang.

So far, the city has designated 700,000 square meters as protected industrial heritage zones, with many old factories and workshops revitalized through adaptive reuse.