Public parking, smooth traffic, education, and childcare services are highlights of the Top 10 Livelihood Projects for 2022 released at the 1st Session of the 10th Zhuhai Municipal People's Congress, which closed Jan 14.

Over 5,000 public parking spaces will be added in the city. By building smart multi-story parking garages and planning roadside parking spaces, 3,000 parking spaces will be added in Xiangzhou District, 1,000 in Doumen, and 500 in Jinwan and the National Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone (Tangjiawan) respectively. 

Roadside parking spaces in Zhuhai [File photo courtesy Zhuhai Media Group]

Traffic pressure on 10 major arterial roads, including Renmin, Fenghuang, and Meihua roads as well as Lovers, Nanwan, and Zhuhai avenues, will be relieved.

Twelve public kindergartens will be built or renovated to enroll 4,500 preschool children. In addition, 17 new primary and middle schools will offer public education for an additional 15,900 students. Eight kindergartens and five public primary and middle schools will be constructed in Zhuhai industrial parks to meet the demands for children's education of the employees. 

Special funds will be allocated to further elevate the quality of after-school services offered by schools in the compulsory education stage.

The number of new affordable and talent housing units will reach 20,000, among which 7,090 units will be located in Xiangzhou District, the most in the city.

A total of 20 affordable childcare service institutes will be built across the city, with 10 being in Xiangzhou, four in Jinwan, five in Doumen, and one in Tangjiawan. Financial support will also be provided to ensure convenient and high-quality care services for local residents. 

Twenty-four old residential communities, spanning 1.03 million sqm (254.52 acres), will be renovated. Thirty-thousand additional fire detection alarms and simple sprinkler facilities will be installed at citywide small-scale venues, while 400,000 registered rental houses will have fire escape windows installed. The city will also construct 16 small fire stations. 

In addition, all 17 identified waterlogging sites in key areas will be eliminated. 

Grassroots "micro project," which was the Number 1 priority on Zhuhai's Top 10 Livelihood Projects for 2021, was included again this year and will receive more special funds to solve "the trivial, urgent, and difficult things" concerning the community.