China Unveils the Guidelines for the Construction of Historical and Cultural Cities and Areas Protection and Upgrading Projects (Part 2)

3. Main Construction Contents.

3.3 Improvement of the surrounding environment.

Improve public spaces, historical water systems, street and alley pavement, and signage systems. Protect and reasonably restore historical water systems. Optimize the construction of green landscapes and public spaces. Enhance the pavement of historical streets and alleys, and upgrade the landscape environment of public space.

(1) Optimize the construction of parks and activity venues. 

Renovate and upgrade public spaces such as parks, green spaces, and squares, utilize small and micro-scale spaces such as street corners and open spaces between courtyards to create pocket parks and mini squares, and install cultural facilities, shading structures, seats, pavilions, etc., and improve the signage system. 

(2) Enhance the historic water system environment. 

For historic rivers and lakes with conservation value, enhance needful waterfront landscape in conjunction with water system design, expand essential waterfront boardwalks, pedestrian walkways, etc., and optimize and improve the environmental quality of waterfront public space of historic water system.

(3) Improve and upgrade the street space environment. 

Protect and restore the road and pavement of historic streets and alleys, and adjust modern road pavement forms that are disharmonious with the spatial environment. Transform and enhance essential squares, sidewalks, building front areas, and other pedestrian and slow-moving spaces. Focus on designing and renovating key historic nodes, and display history and culture through pavement, landscaping, and signage. 

3.4 Upgrading of essential infrastructure and disaster prevention facilities. 

Utilizing existing facilities to explore the formation of a safe and effective infrastructure service system, and build an adaptable disaster prevention and emergency response and self-rescue system. Improve various infrastructure facilities such as water supply, drainage, electricity, telecommunications, heating, gas, etc., and equip them with disaster prevention and mitigation facilities such as fire protection, flood control, rain and moisture prevention, termite control, and lightning protection, as well as reasonably sized parking facilities.

(1) Build integrated micro-tunnel and pipelines. 

Construct micro utility tunnels in line with the scale of streets and alleys, and integrate layouts of water supply, drainage, electricity, and telecommunications pipelines. Improve the facilities and equipment compatible with pipeline layouts, and coordinate with traditional character in terms of form, color, and materials. Moderately beautify and upgrade existing facilities.

(2) Pipeline overhead lines to underground and establish a power supply system. 

Implement overhead pipelining improvement, renovate and tidy up various types of overhead pipelines such as power supply pipelines, telephone lines, TV signal lines, and support lines across the streets and alleys, and concentrate on laying them underground, into the pipes, on walls, or bundled, etc., to eliminate the phenomena such as unauthorized connections and unsightly appearances that affect safety. Improve the laying of power supply lines and equip necessary facilities such as substations and distribution boxes.

(3) Establish a water supply and drainage system and build facilities.

Build, renew, and improve water distribution systems, water tanks, water meters, and other facilities and equipment to provide water supply to every household. Improve drainage systems, construct or renovate drainage pipelines, pumping stations, and other ancillary facilities, giving priority to the use of storm water and waste water sewage separate system, implementing the transformation from combined sewerage systems to separate systems, and constructing a comprehensive sewage collection and treatment system and drainage flood control system. 

(4) Establish a gas system and build faculties. 

Laying gas transmission pipelines to provide gas supply into each home and meet gas supply needs, and equip necessary facilities such as gas pressure regulator station. With the conditions to improve the heating system, laying relevant heating pipelines and branch pipelines to ensure heating supply to every household. 

(5) Establish a sanitation system and build facilities. 

Construct public toilets, waste transfer, and sanitation stations, sanitation parking lots, and sanitation rest areas that are coordinated with traditional style. 

(6) Establish a fire control system and build facilities. 

Plan and build fire escape routes, and demolish modern and uncoordinated buildings that adversely affect fire access safety to meet the needs of fire escape. Equip small and applicable fire facilities and equipment. Build fixed fire facilities such as fire hydrants, fire extinguishers, fire pool tanks, sand pits, and fire pump rooms to achieve full coverage of facilities and no blind spots in fire control. Upgrade fire safety for public buildings, and install various smart fire control devices and equipment including fire alarms, automatic sprinklers, fire water cannons, etc. 

(7) Build other disaster prevention and mitigation facilities. 

Improve disaster prevention facilities in terms of flood control and flood interception, rain and moisture prevention, termite control for wood structures, lightning protection, and others in the local area. This includes but is not limited to building flood diversion channels, necessary drainage ditches, and flood interception ditches; conducting rain and moisture prevention renovations for existing buildings and painting water repellent to clean brick walls or non-wooden frame external walls to enhance building rain and moisture prevention performance; carrying out termite control for wooden structures; and constructing lightning protection facilities. 

(8) Build parking facilities.

Build necessary parking lots and parking facilities to meet the parking needs of residents and tourists. Build related service facilities such as new energy vehicle charging stations.

Source: <https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/202402/content_6933895.htm>

Translated by Guo Xinxin