As Zhejiang’s development of future communities goes in full swing, land rights transfer for most of the first three batches of the pilot projects has been completed; construction on some has begun, and for a few others, such as Qicai Community in Hangzhou’s Xiaoshan district, and Guashan Community in Hangzhou’s Gongshu district, have been put into operation.

Now, the fourth batch is on its way. Since 2021, the building of “future communities” has been put high on the official agenda in Zhejiang. The cities of Hangzhou, Ningbo, Jiaxing, Huzhou, Wenzhou, Taizhou and Lishui have all started the application and evaluation process, with a total of 70 projects involved, although it should be noted that even for these cities that have already conducted program reviews, the number of projects may increase.

What will these future communities look like? How will they change our lives? And what kind of “future life” will they bring to people? The preliminary plans and designs of many future community projects have shown diverse ideas and features.

At the Shibanqiao Community Exhibition Hall in Hangzhou’s Shangcheng district, expectant local residents of the current community, from which a new future community will be built, listened to a guide introducing the project. “In the future, there will be a three-story recycling market, with vegetables growing on the roof, vegetable vendors in the middle, and garbage disposal and recycling on the ground floor.” Waving a laser pointer on a model, the person in charge of the exhibition hall described in detail the design concept of the project, the location of each scenario, and even the decoration styles.

“Future communities are people-oriented, and the ultimate judge on what’s good and what’s is the residents,” said Qiu Huajin, who heads the redevelopment department of the Wangjiang area in Shangcheng district.

 “That’s why we often organize tours like this to solicit opinions from people who will live here in the future.”

In Gongshu district, Guashan Community has been transformed from an urban village into the largest rental community in Hangzhou, including apartments for talents, office buildings, entrepreneurship areas, homestays, among others. Systematic redevelopment efforts of the original community can be found in its architecture, landscaping, municipal engineering, garbage disposal and public security.

The Sports Complex planned to be built in Guashan Community, Gongshu district, Hangzhou

The construction of the new Zhijiang Community in Hangzhou’s Xihu district will be ecological-oriented to effectively increase usage of renewable energy and improve energy resource utilization efficiency, eventually realizing green development. In Ningbo city’s Baihe Community, it is hoped that the transit-oriented development (TOD) model will help innovate the utilization of housing space, bring in a smart and low-carbon lifestyle, and introduce comprehensive services for people of all ages.

Since quite a few future community projects will be built on old communities which will be either demolished or redeveloped, it is important that memories of the past be retained. In the planned design for Luli Community in Jiaxing city’s Nanhu district, a unique cultural and ecological corridor will be set up, with a cultural and historical park in the west section, a public square for public events in the middle section and a sports park in the east.

These communities have clearly shown that houses are for living, and future communities are not luxuries, but livable places for ordinary people.

“A new thing”. This is how almost every one of those in charge of the pilot future community project describes it. They all have started from scratch, no knowing what to do at first, before “feeling the stones across the river” cautiously and finding the solutions. Issues on planning, management and capital balance have inevitably cropped up during the process.

For instance, to better regulate the planning of these projects, especially what future communities entail, the Zhejiang provincial authorities have issued 33 binding and guiding indicators, which have point out a clearer path for their implementation. In terms of management, future communities cover a much wider area and call for much better services, especially public services. With virtually zero property management fees for future communities, digital technologies such as cloud computing will be introduced to save management costs. As the majority of these pilot projects will be based on redeveloping old communities, large amounts of investment will be needed. Through innovative approaches such as green finance, Ditang Community in Huzhou city’s Nanxun district has successfully secured funding from banks.

What is the ultimate goal of building future communities? The person in charge at the Zhejiang Provincial Development and Reform Commission gave the answer: as a new functional unit of the city, the purpose of planning these communities is to lay a solid foundation for the development of “future cities” and “future society”.

Mao Qizhi, a professor Tsinghua University’s School of Architecture, believed that the significance of future communities lies not only in the improvement of living environment, but also in cultural atmosphere. People living in the same communities highly identify with their communities, and they are willing to help each other and make joint efforts to create a better future for the communities — that is the original intention of building a future community.

 This photo shows an elderly lady displaying the interface of a smart elderly care APP developed by Beishan sub-district in Hangzhou’s Xihu district

There is no doubt that creating a stronger cultural atmosphere is the key for future communities. “In the planning, the development of public areas and supporting facilities should be forward-looking, taking into account cross-community interpersonal relations,” said the person in charge at the Zhejiang Provincial Development and Reform Commission. The openness of future communities is not just physical, i.e. without any walls, but also to create an open interpersonal relationship. “With more and more people willing to live in future communities, their development will be even easier.”

Zhejiang is also preparing for the future by formulating new policies on the basis of the original policies, so that the government’s guiding role will be played whether in completely or partially demolishing old communities or in tinkering with newly built ones. Meanwhile, market-oriented mechanisms should be adhered to, and state capital, private capital and foreign capital should all be welcomed. Moreover, costs should be reduced and adverse impact on the public should be minimized.

As the person in charge at the Zhejiang Development and Reform Commission said, “Zhejiang’s development of future communities should stand the test of time”.

Editor: Huang Yan