In recent years, Chongchuan district in Nantong has constructed a people-oriented urban park system through building integrated parks, small cultural gardens and pocket parks. The system will accelerate Nantong's becoming a green and livable city full of parks. [Photo/WeChat account: chongchuanonline]

The number of parks in a city is a significant indicator of whether it is livable. In recent years, Chongchuan district in Nantong has constructed a people-oriented  urban park system through building integrated parks, small cultural gardens and pocket parks, to accelerate Nantong's becoming a green city full of parks.

According to the local municipal and greening administration, Chongchuan district has built five small gardens as well as seven green belts along the rivers and 15 along the roads, and added 28.18 hectares of green land.

"This plot was covered with construction garbage and household waste in the past," a citizen surnamed Ren said. "We had to cover our noses when passing by." The plot Ren referred to is adjacent to Wenliang Primary School.

At the beginning of 2020, Chongchuan district decided to renovate the plot in the central urban area and build a small garden with water landscapes. The dredging project of Jintong River was being implemented at the same time.

In addition to small gardens, to increase green space in the neighborhoods and provide convenient fitness and leisure facilities for residents, the district set up walking trails in nine neighborhoods, and built leisure squares in seven other communities. These small-sized pocket parks now integrate multiple functions of leisure, fitness and sightseeing, and are popular with citizens.

To solve the problem of conservation, a new department – a green management center – was established. It will develop and construct a smart park management and conservation system next year that will make full use of advanced technologies such as big data, the internet of things and geographic information systems.