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

Idle Commercial & Public Buildings

Vacant offices, hotels, schools, supermarkets and similar buildings brought back into use.

7 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

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

Guancheng Hui District, Zhengzhou, Henan · 46 mu · 3.07 ha

Bodu Xinxiang Historic and Cultural District, Zhengzhou

郑州市亳都新象历史文化街区活化利用

A vacant former college campus inside the protected core of the Shang dynasty capital site was acquired, rezoned for mixed commercial and cultural use, and sold with heritage obligations — height limits, street pattern and a performance bond — written into the land contract. The courtyard-style district opened in 2025 and drew over 500,000 visitors in its first holiday week.

Qinhuai District, Nanjing, Jiangsu · 19.5 mu · 1.3 ha

Urban Renewal of Jinling Changlefang, Nanjing

南京市金陵长乐坊城市更新

A former knitwear factory turned Walmart, vacant since 2020 and next to the Confucius Temple area, had mixed allocated and sold land and 29,000 m² of unpermitted buildings. After penalties were imposed, the buildings were regularized, the owner paid CNY 233 million to convert allocated industrial land to commercial use, and the complex reopened as a culture-and-retail destination.

Floor space brought back into use 0 → about 40,000 m²

Doilungdêqên District, Lhasa, Tibet · 23.1 mu · 1.54 ha

Organic Renewal of the Longteng Building, Doilungdêqên, Lhasa

拉萨市龙腾大厦有机更新

Two run-down plots with incomplete land records — allocated government land and an old start-up centre of unclear title — were merged, rezoned commercial and transferred to a district-owned company together with the buildings on them. A minimum investment of CNY 250 million was written into the land contract; the new mixed office, retail and talent-housing complex opened in 2024.

Floor space under 15,000 → 52,307 m²

Malanshan Video Cultural and Creative Industrial Park, Changsha, Hunan · 123 mu · 8.2 ha

Integrating Land Rights for Hunan Broadcasting's "Colourful Box" Production Base, Changsha

长沙市湖南广电“七彩盒子”整合盘活

One TV production campus sat on three plots — allocated land held by the broadcaster and sold land split between the broadcaster and its media group — so it could not be planned, permitted or mortgaged as one. The allocated land was injected into the group as a capital contribution instead of paying a CNY 123 million land premium, and the other plot's owner name was simply changed, unifying all 123 mu under one company.

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