On January 30, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development released **data showing that in 2023, 53,700 old urban residential communities across the country began renovation, benefiting 8.97 million households, with a total investment of nearly 240 billion yuan, exceeding the annual target.

Liu Lifeng, deputy director of the Urban Construction Department of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, said that in implementing the renovation of old urban residential communities, localities have focused on the urgent difficulties and worries of the people, actively responded to public concerns, and adhered to the principle of asking the people about their needs, soliciting their ideas, and seeking their feedback on results—"fixing whatever is inadequate and supplementing whatever is lacking"—and have done a good job in the "corridor revolution," "environment revolution," and "management revolution."

According to statistics, in 2023, 76,000 kilometers of aging pipelines of various types, including water, electricity, gas, and heating, were newly renovated; 36,000 elevators were installed; 116 million square meters of buildings underwent energy-saving renovation; 850,000 parking spaces, 36,600 electric vehicle charging piles, and 288,000 electric bicycle charging piles were added; and 21,000 community service facilities of various types, including elderly care and childcare, were added, along with 6.37 million square meters of new cultural, leisure, and sports fitness venues.

The renovation of old urban residential communities has not only improved the living environment, facility conditions, and service functions of old urban communities and neighborhoods, meeting the people's needs for a better life, but has also played a positive role in strengthening and improving grassroots social governance.

A working mechanism of "inspection first, renovation later" has been established, with priority given to updating and renovating aging pipelines for drainage and gas that pose safety hazards, and accelerating the elimination of safety hazards around the people. For example, Jiangsu Province has applied a working mechanism of "big data + grid management + iron footsteps" to investigate safety hazards community by community, determine safety control and hazard remediation plans by category, and accelerate implementation and rectification as priority renovation content. Beijing has coordinated the implementation of pipeline renovation in old residential communities under the "seven ones" model—"one implementation plan for the renovation of various pipelines, one approval of funds, one construction renovation, one survey unit, one design unit, one general construction contractor, and one supervision unit"—achieving comprehensive one-time renovation of various pipelines in a single effort.

Exploration has been made to build service facilities for the "elderly and children," such as elderly care, childcare, and meal assistance, by converting the use of existing housing and reusing idle land, and to vigorously promote the installation of elevators in buildings where conditions permit. For example, Changsha City in Hunan Province encourages the use of existing housing owned by municipal administrative institutions and state-owned enterprises within or around old residential communities, through low-cost leasing and other means, for supporting public service facilities in old residential communities, with rental income earmarked for the renovation of old urban residential communities. The Wenxiang area renovation project in Yuxi City, Yunnan Province, carried out contiguous renovation of 24 old residential communities and 55 residential buildings, demolishing illegal structures and removing wall partitions, and used the vacated space to build various facilities, creating a "5-minute home service circle" integrating medical care, food, transportation, culture, and entertainment.

Renovation funds have been raised through multiple channels to strengthen funding guarantees. In terms of government investment, local governments have actively issued special bonds to raise funds for the renovation of old residential communities. In terms of resident contributions, residents have been guided and mobilized to participate in renovation through direct contributions and the raising and use of special residential maintenance funds. In terms of social capital, market entities have been attracted to invest through integrated "renovation + operation services" operation, franchise operation of public spaces, and packaged leasing of idle housing and land, so as to provide convenient services for residents. For example, Jinghu District in Wuhu City, Anhui Province, packaged the renovation of 60 old residential communities in 9 areas under its jurisdiction into a single project, using the operating income from assets such as parking spaces, charging piles, advertising spaces, and idle space within the areas to repay the principal and interest of the project, and issued 500 million yuan of 15-year local government special bonds, accounting for 72% of the total project investment.

Long-term management of old residential communities has been incorporated into the overall situation of strengthening and innovating social governance for coordinated consideration, and the "second half of the article" on management has been effectively carried out. For example, Chengdu City in Sichuan Province encourages residents to adopt methods such as combining municipal services with property services, introducing property management on a contiguous basis, sharing property services across blocks, and trust-based property services, so as to help old residential communities achieve "orderly and safe order, clean and tidy environment, timely facility maintenance, services matching price and quality, and open and transparent management." Hetang District in Zhuzhou City, Hunan Province, has built a smart property management platform that regularly publicizes public affairs information such as community property management information, financial income and expenditure, and the use of maintenance funds, and regularly organizes owners to conduct online satisfaction evaluations, thereby solving the difficulties of property management in old residential communities.

The National Housing and Urban-Rural Development Work Conference proposed renovating another batch of old urban residential communities, focusing on solving problems such as level-entry elevator installation and parking difficulties. Next, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development will, together with relevant departments, strengthen coordination and cooperation, firmly assign primary responsibilities to localities, and urge and guide localities to focus on serving the people, facilitating the people, and ensuring their safety, implement targeted renovations, accelerate the elimination of safety hazards, comprehensively improve the living environment, facility conditions, and service functions, and continuously enhance the people's sense of gain, happiness, and security.