Xiangzhou District, Zhuhai

Designated as a National Garden City, Zhuhai has also won acclaim for its urban management, which continues to improve by striving for further sophistication, intellectualization, and standardization.

Shared bicycles, which are a popular trend in Chinese cities, have played a positive role in multiple ways, such as solving the "last mile problem" in public transport, reducing air pollution, and easing traffic pressure. However, many problems including illegal parking, excessive competition, and lack of clarity in company responsibilities have also arose.

Shared bicycles in Zhuhai [Photo courtesy southcn.com]

To address that, Xiangzhou District has taken the lead in assembling a shared bicycle management task force, which establishes rules for the booming industry and supervises enterprises, ensuring that they fulfill their responsibilities.

In terms of urban landscapes, the median strip of Zhuhai Avenue has been renovated to bloom year-round with spidery cleome, sunflowers, daisy-like coreopsis, rapeseed, and Chinese pennisetum. The typhoon-devastated trees also were transplanted elsewhere for safety and aesthetic concerns.

Zhuhai Avenue's median strip [Photo courtesy WeChat account: zhxiangzhou]

Furthermore, Zhuhai has been committed to smart city construction with the use of cutting-edge technologies. Its digital urban management platform is capable of covering the entire city based on a big data network.

An online supervision platform that allows citizens to report on uncivilized behavior at any time has engaged more people into the city's efforts. As of July 29, it had received 15,645 tips, and 15,047 of the problems have so far been solved.

In response to the national call, Zhuhai's next step will be promoting garbage sorting as part of its environmental drive for sustainable growth.