Case library · Unofficial English translation · Glossary

How Chinese cities are reusing
inefficient land

Twenty-nine case studies from the 2026 national collection on revitalizing existing and inefficiently used land — from aerospace parks on old textile sites to a soy sauce brewery that bought out its neighbours. Each case is translated in full, with its location, key figures and the land and planning tools it used.

Cases
29
Provinces
19
Themes
6
Land covered
29 km²

Geographic spread

Where the cases are located

Province-level administrative boundaries come from the site's local China boundary dataset; points show the case cities.

Points mark the city of each case, not the exact site. The boundary geometry is loaded locally; no third-party basemap tiles are used.

Clear

Flexible Controls and Streamlined Permits: Changing and Mixing Uses

5 cases

Heping District, Shenyang, Liaoning · 6.9 mu · 0.46 ha

Reuse of a Vacant Former Bank Building for the Stomatological Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang

沈阳市医大附属口腔医院盘活利用

Three vacant office buildings on allocated land in central Shenyang were rezoned for healthcare and sold on the secondary land market — Liaoning's first online public listing with timed bidding for allocated land — to a neighbouring dental hospital, which converted them into a second campus without demolition.

Floor space brought back into use 0 → 19,078 m²

Jiao District, Jiamusi, Heilongjiang · 13.4 mu · 0.9 ha

Conservation and Reuse of the Textile Mill Workers' Housing, Jiamusi

佳木斯市纺织厂家属楼保护利用

Four 1952 Soviet-style workers' housing blocks, listed as historic buildings but rated structurally unsafe, were bought out from 217 households and converted into 189 affordable rental homes. The case presents this as China's first conversion of a listed historic building into affordable rental housing, with rents funding upkeep.

Tinghu District, Yancheng, Jiangsu · 21.6 mu · 1.44 ha

"No. 8 Xinsheng" Digital Technology Innovation Park — Repurposing a Vacant School, Yancheng

盐城市 8 号新生·数字科技创新园功能重塑

The vacant old campus of Yancheng No. 8 Middle School was rezoned from education to business office use and sold by public listing — with its buildings and a design scheme attached — to the district's urban investment company. A specialist operator turned classrooms into offices and labs and dormitories into talent apartments; 35 digital-technology firms now occupy 95% of the space.

Occupancy 0% → 95%

Laishan District, Yantai, Shandong · 47.4 mu · 3.16 ha

Upgrading the Shandong Port International Exchange Centre, Yantai

烟台市山东港口国际交流中心迭代更新

A disused 1980s seafront hotel owned by Yantai Port Group was demolished and rebuilt by the owner itself as an international conference and training centre. Without changing the land use or site area, the floor area ratio rose from 0.27 to 0.75 and about 9,400 m² of basement space was added.

Floor area ratio 0.27 → 0.75

Xialu District, Huangshi, Hubei · 10 mu · 0.67 ha

"Workers' Teahouse + Happiness Canteen" — Reusing an Idle Warehouse, Huangshi

黄石市“工友茶馆+幸福食堂”功能提升

An empty steelworks-company warehouse beside an old workers' housing estate was turned into a retro teahouse and subsidized community canteen for older residents. Using a five-year transition policy that keeps the original owner and land use unchanged, the subdistrict office avoided any transfer of title and paid for the hard renovation, while an operator fitted it out and runs it.

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