The City Will See Tremendous Changes in the Next Five Years! Chongqing Will Complete and Put into Operation 234 kilometers of Rail Transit Lines, and Achieve Renewal of 100 Urban Areas

Recently, the “Integrated Construction and Development Plan for Infrastructure in Central Urban Area in Chongqing During “15^th Five-Year Plan” Period (2026-2030)” (Draft for Comments) has been officially released. In the next five years, Chongqing will promote the construction and commissioning of the rail transit lines with a total length of 234 kilometers, build and reconstruct more than 800 kilometers of rainwater pipelines and more than 1400 kilometers of sewage pipelines. By the end of 2030, the renewal of 100 urban areas in total will be achieved, and a beautiful riverside line covering “Two Rivers and Four Banks” in a total length of 100 kilometers will be built up. By then, Chongqing will have basically built a modern urban infrastructure system characterized by comprehensive system, high efficiency and practicality, intelligence and environmental protection, safety and reliability.

Promote construction and commissioning of the rail transit lines with a total length of 234 kilometers.

According to the Plan, Chongqing will take rail transit as the key measure to alleviate the pain points of mountainous transportation, striving not only for “fast running” but also for “extensive connectivity”.  

In terms of strengthening transportation network through rail transit, Chongqing will continue to implement the construction projects at Phase IV, promote the construction and commissioning of 10 transit lines (sections) including Line 15 with a total length of 234 kilometers, strive to build an operation network featuring “loop-radiation plus horizontal-vertical layout”, and make contribution to create a “1-hour commuting circle”. At the same time, Chongqing will steadily advance the construction of municipal (suburban) railways, accelerate the transportation integration in western Chongqing, and serve the construction of the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle.

Furthermore, Chongqing will launch the construction of Yongchuan Line at Phase II in a timely manner according to the progress of the new airport project, and push forward the preliminary research on medium- and long-term urban rail transit and municipal (suburban) railways.

The quality of rail transit services will also be improved in an all-round way. Chongqing will promote the construction and commissioning of the unopened entrances and exits on the lines which have been put into operation, and ensure that all eligible entrances and exits shall be opened “to the fullest possible extent”. Chongqing will perfect the in-station transfer functions to eliminate the bottlenecks in transfer, with a focus on enhancing barrier-free facilities and implementing age-friendly modifications for both the elderly and children, so as to fully improve the travel experience. Additionally, centered on the rail transit stations, Chongqing will build an all-weather pedestrian system, improve the connection between public transport and rail transit, launch “alley buses” and “micro-circulation buses”, and establish non-motor vehicle parking areas within 50 meters of the station entrances and exits on a reasonable basis, solving the “last-mile” problem for residents’ travel.

The ground road network will also pursue both “densification” and “quality improvement”. Focusing on the expressway network structure consisting of “6 horizontal, 6 vertical, 1 ring, and 6 connecting roads”, Chongqing will connect the skeleton road network continuously, addressing the issues such as mismatched road grades and functions, and congestion at key nodes. Meanwhile, targeting the goal of “eliminating existing dead-end roads and preventing new ones”, Chongqing will coordinate the construction of primary, secondary, and branch roads with area renewal, striving to achieve a road network density of 8 kilometers per square kilometer in the urban area by 2030.

To tackle the pain point of difficult parking, Chongqing will, on the basis of urban renewal, make full use of the underground space and scattered land to build up a total of 315 public parking lots with 91,000 parking spaces, and encourage the construction of “P+R” park-and-ride facilities.

It is planned to build and renovate more than 800 kilometers of rainwater pipe networks

Buried deep underground, the pipelines are the “lifeline” of the city. Targeting this concealed project, Chongqing will implement the “comprehensive and integrated” governance to enhance urban resilience comprehensively.

In terms of pipeline management, Chongqing will establish a management system featuring “centralization-decentralization integration”, and promote the “integrated formation” of the pipelines and urban infrastructure construction. In particular, a closed-loop management mechanism for renewal and transformation of the old pipelines will be set up to dynamically eliminate the potential pipeline risks. At the same time, the construction of urban utility tunnels will be advanced in light of local conditions in order to build up a total of 106 kilometers of tunnels, so as to promote the transformation from the traditional laying method to the corridor-based mode. 

Facing the challenges of the flood season, Chongqing will enhance its drainage and waterlogging prevention capacity substantially. On one hand, Chongqing will continuously carry out inspection and rectification of the potential risks, with a focus on strengthening flood prevention at the key points such as rail transit entrances & exits and underpasses; on the other hand, Chongqing will speed up construction and reconstruction of the rainwater pipelines, planning to complete construction and reconstruction of more than 800 kilometers of the rainwater pipelines during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period. Chongqing will also reshape the drainage and waterlogging prevention mechanism for megacities, establishing a five-level responsibility system covering “city – district – town/sub-district – community – grid” to ensure the city shall get through the flood season safely.

Sewage treatment will also transform toward ‘quality improvement and efficiency enhancement”. Chongqing will make efforts to solve the problem of sewage treatment plants operating under high load, build facilities moderately ahead of schedule, lay emphasis on improving the efficiency of sewage pipelines, and plan to build and reconstruct more than 1,400 kilometers of sewage pipelines during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period. By deepening the institutional reform of “plant-pipeline integration”, an efficiency-oriented payment system based on pollutant collection and treatment performance will be established, gradually forming a new integrated water supply and drainage management system that meets the development requirements of megacities.

In addition, Chongqing will coordinate the comprehensive transformation of various pipelines with a total length of 13,700 kilometers for urban water supply, gas, electricity and communication, and to fully improve the safe operation level of the underground infrastructure.

By the end of 2030, implement renewal of a total of 100 urban areas

A city shall pay attention to not only the height, but also the temperature. It is proposed in the Plan that the coordinated renewal of urban human settlement environment and infrastructure shall be promoted, so as to make the city more livable and smarter.

In terms of urban renewal, Chongqing will lay emphasis on promoting the coordinated renewal of infrastructure in the urban areas. By the end of 2030, the renewal of a total of 100 urban areas will be implemented, and 200 “Back Alleys in Chongqing” will be built up. Meanwhile, the supporting infrastructure for modern communities will be improved to provide hardware support for embedded service facilities such as courier stations, inclusive childcare centers and community canteens, with a total of 100 modern communities constructed. For old residential communities and urban villages, systematic infrastructure system renovation will be carried out to tap the potential of parking resources and create public activity spaces friendly to people of all ages.

The “Two Rivers and Four Banks” area will also see further improvement in its landscape quality. Chongqing will launch a riverside connectivity and quality upgrading initiative, build an 11-kilometer riverside footpath loop covering “Two Rivers and Three Bridges” in the core area, and create featured viewing platforms. By the end of 2030, a total of 100 kilometers of beautiful riverside lines along the “Two Rivers and Four Banks” will be completed, making the city card of “Land of Mountains and Waters · Beautiful Place” even more renowned.

Looking ahead, digitalization will become a distinct hallmark of the urban construction in Chongqing. Chongqing will develop smart urban infrastructure, establish a smart rail transit network management system, and build a project-level digital management platform for urban roads. Particularly in the field of underground pipelines, Chongqing will draw a digital twin map of urban pipelines, ensure that the digital twin coverage rate of the “four types” of pipelines in key densely populated areas shall remain 100%, and the coverage rate of sensing devices at urban road waterlogging risk points shall remain 100%, promoting the leap of the urban governance from “passive response” to “active early warning”.

A relevant official from Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development stated that by 2030, with the implementation and effectiveness of this series of infrastructure projects, Chongqing will not only boast a stronger engine for economic development, but also bring tangible high-quality life experiences to its residents.

Source: Chongqing Daily