On a late October day, Yinchuan City in Ningxia welcomed yet another cold front. Strong winds swept away floating dust, and the snowline on the distant Helan Mountains was clearly visible. Known as the "Jiangnan of the Frontier," Yinchuan often impresses visitors with its urban construction. Yet even the most beautiful city cannot escape pain points such as weak infrastructure in urban villages and parking difficulties in old downtown areas. Reporters recently followed a themed interview tour titled "Harmonious Coexistence of Humanity and Nature—Territorial Spatial Planning Leading High-Quality Development" into Yinchuan, Ningxia, learning how local natural resources authorities, while safeguarding red lines and baselines, make good use of policies to serve residents in urban village redevelopment and road congestion relief, making urban life better.
The mountain and lake views west of Lanshan Park in Yinchuan. According to Yinchuan's territorial spatial planning, both the east and west sides of Lanshan Park have requirements for architectural style and height to preserve sightlines toward the Helan Mountains and Yuehai Lake. All photos are by reporter Gao Yuting. The urban view east of Lanshan Park in Yinchuan. Built from urban construction waste, Lanshan Park has become a landmark of Yinchuan, attracting crowds of visitors each year.
Ningxia's First "Pilot" Urban Village Redevelopment Project
A newly built residential complex on Yangcheng Lane in Xingqing District, Yinchuan, Ningxia, is part of the Beita Teams 3, 4, and 6 urban village demolition and redevelopment project in Xingqing District, scheduled for completion by the end of the year. Ms. Ma, who had long awaited this new home, repeatedly told reporters: "Oh my, I never imagined it." One surprise was that the long-anticipated demolition of the urban village had finally come to pass. Another was that the government not only solicited villagers' opinions but also offered in-place replacement of old homes with new ones—and in her view, the apartment layouts, construction standards, and locations were all "especially good."
The nearly completed resettlement community for Beita Teams 3, 4, and 6 in Xingqing District. Beita Teams 3, 4, and 6 are an urban village located within Yinchuan's old downtown area, mostly consisting of two- or three-story self-built village homes. It once housed 640 permanent households with 1,789 residents. Due to cheap rent and a good location, the population peaked at around 3,500. Ms. Ma recalled that her family had a self-built two-story house, partly rented out and partly occupied. Around 2020, they heard the urban village might be demolished and were very hopeful. Because there was no central heating, everyone burned cheap honeycomb coal in winter, filling the urban village with black smoke. "The black smoke during the heating season was indescribable. Order was poor, the environment was polluted—at first people didn't realize it, but gradually they found houses hard to rent and all kinds of facilities inadequate," Ms. Ma recalled. Especially after rain, the roads became muddy, and compared with the spacious, comfortable surrounding residential communities, this urban village seemed out of place. Local residents eagerly awaited government demolition. After several rounds of rumors, the demolition policy finally arrived in 2023. In July 2023, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Guiding Opinions on Actively and Steadily Promoting Urban Village Redevelopment in Megacities and Supercities," which stated that qualified large cities with permanent urban populations of over 3 million could follow the guidelines. Relevant departments of the autonomous region and Yinchuan actively worked to secure inclusion, and Yinchuan—then with a permanent population of over 2.9 million—became one of the first expanded pilot cities nationwide under the urban village redevelopment program. Beita Teams 3, 4, and 6 became Ningxia's first "pilot" urban village redevelopment project.
For urban villages in good locations within the city, in-place demolition and resettlement of residents requires substantial funding for land and construction. Where does the money come from? Chen Rui, deputy director of the Yinchuan Natural Resources Bureau, explained that the Beita Teams 3, 4, and 6 project covers 136.3 mu, of which 62 mu is for villager resettlement housing, ensuring all villagers can be resettled on the original site. The 37 mu on the east side of the project was put up for public "bidding, auction, and listing" as commercial-residential land for sale, to supplement the cost of building new urban village homes. In addition, special funds for urban village redevelopment and local government special bond funds can be used in coordination. Reporters observed on-site that the new resettlement housing was already built, with many workers doing final landscaping. The commercial-residential buildings to the east were under construction. From groundbreaking to near completion took over two years, and relevant departments worked to save time and improve efficiency in preliminary work. "The natural resources department set up a dedicated task force to follow the entire process of land acquisition and demolition, land supply, and planning approval, improving project approval efficiency by 30%," Chen Rui said. "In 168 days, Xingqing District completed the collection of public opinions, signing of relocation agreements, land clearing and stockpiling, and development feasibility planning. The housing layout designs were fully vetted with villagers beforehand," said Ma Linyuan, director of the Xingqing District Natural Resources Bureau. Besides the fast project timeline, the government also provided each relocated resident with a rental transition subsidy to help solve their housing difficulties.
A late autumn scene at Zhongshan Park.
How to Build Parking Lots in Historic Districts and Century-Old Parks?
Zhongshan Park, located in Yinchuan's historic district, was first built in 1929 and is a nearly century-old park. It contains both a zoo and an amusement park, making it not only a must-visit for many Ningxia children during holidays but also a main leisure destination for Yinchuan residents. During holidays, visitor numbers surge, and parking difficulties and traffic congestion on nearby roads become particularly prominent. On a late October day, a local opera troupe was rehearsing in the park area built above the underground parking lot at Zhongshan Park. "How do you build a parking lot in a park? We searched and searched and considered several locations," Chen Rui recalled. Eventually, a nursery garden at the park's north gate caught the natural resources department's attention. The nursery could be relocated out of the prime old downtown area, the surface converted into part of the park, and—in accordance with the "Guiding Opinions of the Ministry of Natural Resources on Exploring and Promoting the Development and Utilization of Urban Underground Space"—the space beneath the nursery could be used to build an underground parking lot with 265 spaces. "We can see the ancient and old trees in this garden are growing very well because during construction of the underground parking lot, a 2.5-meter soil cover was left to protect the root systems of the plants above," Chen Rui said. "This underground parking lot was basically dug down to match the size of the nursery," Chen Rui explained. Where can a parking lot be built around a historic park? You can't just dig anywhere underground—it requires scientific planning, consideration of traffic convenience so residents can park easily, and without damaging the existing park vegetation. Currently, this underground parking lot averages over 1,000 parking instances per day during holidays. Combined with nearby parking lots, it basically meets holiday parking demand for park visitors. Chen Rui also mentioned that from the perspective of natural resource allocation, the land rights confirmation for this underground parking lot used "layered use rights." After study and assessment, they determined that the surface land still belongs to the original nursery unit, the Yinchuan Forestry, Grassland, and Landscape Bureau, while the underground parking lot land was confirmed to the Xingqing District Government. "Because it is public welfare land, according to regulations it can be confirmed to the specific construction and investment unit," Chen Rui said. The project was also successfully selected in the "Ministry of Natural Resources Typical Cases of Underground Space Development and Utilization" on January 19, 2026. "The natural resources field has many policies and detailed regulations. We must, while safeguarding red lines and baselines, combine local actual conditions, make good use of policies, and let every piece of land and every resource deliver maximum benefits and reflect its value," Chen Rui said.
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