Xuzhou City in Jiangsu Province has won the UN-Habitat Scroll of Honour Award, launched in 1989 and one of the most prestigious human settlements award in the world, according to UN-Habitat on Sept. 11.
Xuzhou received the award for its remarkable progress in improving the living environment for residents in recent years by continuously strengthening ecological restoration and solid waste treatment.
Xuzhou, the second-largest and most populous city in Jiangsu Province, is also a century-old coal city with more than 20,000 hectares of coal mining subsidence.
To improve the human settlements and create an ecologically livable city, Xuzhou has carried out a series of key projects about urban roads, sewage facilities, solid waste treatment, water supply, heating, gas and affordable housing construction, giving priorities to build an affordable housing system composed of low-rent housing, public rental housing, resettlement houses and rental subsidies.
Xuzhou has demolished more than 32 million square meters of low-rise and shabby houses, built more than 50 modern residential communities, relocated over 200,000 residents from shantytowns to new homes, implemented comprehensive renovation of 177 old residential quarters, and benefited more than 600,000 people.
At present, the green coverage rate in areas that have finished renovation reaches 43.81 percent, and the forest coverage rate is 30.1 percent.
Xuzhou has restored 19,700 mu (1,313 hectares) of mining subsidence land, 34,000 mu of abandoned mining sites and 42 quarries, turning the surface scars into the city’s natural charms.
（source:jschina.com.cn）
