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

Residential

4 cases

Weiyang District, Xi'an, Shaanxi · 19,605 mu · 1,307 ha

Urban Renewal of the Tuanjie Area, Weiyang District, Xi'an

西安市未央区团结片区城市更新

A 13-square-kilometre area of northern Xi'an with fragmented tenure — approved-but-unsupplied land, land awaiting recovery and urban-village plots — was renewed under a city-funded, district-implemented joint land reserve. A railway park was opened up to surrounding streets, and TOD development was planned around metro stations.

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.

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.

Hejiang County, Luzhou, Sichuan · 698 mu · 46.5 ha

Revitalizing the Xianshi Soy Sauce Factory, Luzhou

泸州市先市酱油厂升级焕新

A heritage-listed soy sauce brewery in a Sichuan market town expanded by buying out neighbouring vacant houses and a disused state grain depot, and by acquiring small leftover plots by agreement. Residential and public-service land was rezoned to industrial land with 30% commercial use allowed, linking brewing, a museum, homestays and an old-street tourism district.

Phase 1 output 1,000 → 2,000 tonnes per year

Browse by policy tool