China, People's Republic of: Jilin Yanji Low-Carbon Climate-Resilient Healthy City Project

Transport / Urban public transport - Urban roads and traffic management

Water and other urban infrastructure and services / Urban flood protection - Urban sanitation - Urban water supply

The project is located in Yanji city, which faces challenges of poor urban livability and traffic management, exposure to climate-related flood risk, and risks to water security and safety. The project will provide multiple cross-benefits from an integrated solution provided to improve the urban livability of a medium-sized city, which is timely and essential to lessen the migration to the coastal mega-urban regions and to provide a demonstration project for replication in the PRC. It will contribute to (i) regional public goods of health and improved air and water quality, and (ii) revitalizing the economically challenged northeast area of the PRC.

The project will support the first bus rapid transit (BRT) corridor in the northeast of the PRC and transform Yanji's urban geography. This will reinforce the east west linear city arrangement through connecting key areas following principles of transit-oriented development (TOD) with higher density mixed-use and pedestrian-friendly center areas around the BRT stations. It will integrate nonmotorized transport (NMT) lanes and facilities along the corridor, and a series of small roads and river greenways will be provided to ensure safe and pleasant pedestrian and bicycle access to the BRT stations while promoting low-carbon urban mobility and physical activities that enhance public health. The project-supported greenways are designed as _sponge city_ green infrastructure, enhancing climate resilience and urban livability. The project will improve the water supply and wastewater management systems to ensure safe and climate-resilient access to water supply and improved water quality. Capacity development will contribute to the preparation of action plans to demonstrate Yanji as a low-carbon, climate-resilient, and healthy city, contributing to the implementation of the Healthy China 2030 program, and lessons and knowledge will be shared with other developing member countries.

Key development challenges. The city suffers from inadequate urban infrastructure and provision of basic services that cause inconvenience and disruptions to daily life, especially for women. This includes inefficient public transport, traffic congestion and poor parking management, urban and river flooding, and inefficient water supply and wastewater management.

Urban roads suffer from traffic congestion, especially during rush hours, and missing network links. Many elements of the road network and intersections pose safety problems for vehicles and people. There is a lack of safe bicycle lanes, sidewalks, and pedestrian crossings in many areas. Many cars are parked on sidewalks, creating obstacles for and safety risks to pedestrians. Traffic is worsening because of the increase in registrations and use of private cars with 152,000 in 2017 (about 300 vehicles per 1,000 urban residents), increased from 96,000 in 2012. Traffic management and signal control is outdated with several suboptimal and unsafe intersections, especially in the congested urban core. The public transport system is inefficient, inconvenient, and unsafe; buses jam in bus stop areas and people get on and off on the streets. Further, there is an urgent need to upgrade and extend public transport into the periphery. Currently, 43 bus routes traverse six roads with a total route length of 490 km and a daily ridership of about 243,000 passengers. The public transport system does not match the needs of a growing population and is even at risk of a decline in ridership because of an increase in private vehicle use as people switch modes because of unreliable, inconvenient, and unsafe public transport service and bus shelters that lack weather protection.

Flooding is a significant problem during the rainy season in June July, with flooding for about 5 days per year on average in recent years. River flooding, flash floods, and urban flooding endanger lives, property, and livelihoods, and pose disturbances to traffic and public life. The combined sewer and drainage pipe system is outdated, with a total network length of 326 km, comprising 110 km of sewers, 40 km of drainage pipes, and 176 km of combined sewer and drainage pipes. Only 11.6% of the pipe network meets the 1-in-3 year flood design standard, causing pluvial flooding during heavy summer rains. The Chaoyang River urban catchment area is currently exposed to flood risks of 1-in-20 year flood events.

Yanji city''s water supply system is inefficient. It has two water reservoirs and two water treatment plants with a total combined treatment capacity of 210,000 cubic meters (m3) per day; 150,000 m3/day of treated water meets national water quality standards and is provided as continuous round-the-clock service to end users. The system covers about 98% of the urban area and population with 348 km of water distribution pipes, 91 booster pumps, and around 215,000 water meters. The key challenge is the high level of nonrevenue water (NRW) which was 46% in 2017, comprising 9% in commercial losses and 37% in physical water losses mainly because of aging pipes that were laid in the 1930s and 1970s. It is difficult to detect leaks in deeply buried pipes because of cold climate conditions and incomplete information on pipe locations because of missing and unreliable maps of the old pipe system and poor geographic information system (GIS) management. While the city benefitted from a previous Asian Development Bank (ADB) loan, the above challenges remain. Wastewater is collected and treated at two wastewater treatment plants with a combined capacity of 150,000 m3/day. Tariffs for domestic water users are CNY3.20/m3 for water supply and an additional CNY0.95/m3 for wastewater.

Strategic fit. The project will support urban livability of a medium-sized city, contributing to ADB's strategic support to the PRC's revitalization and strengthening of the northeast including four cities in East Heilongjiang, north of Yanji. Through its strategic and integrated approach, the project will support (i) the thirteenth five-year plans of Jilin province and Yanji city, 2016 2020; (ii) the PRC's National New-Type Urbanization Plan, 2014 -2020, aligning with Yanji's investment program as one of the PRC's pilot cities; and (iii) Yanji''s urban and economic development master plan (2009 -2030) and transport master plan. The proposed project is included in ADB's country operations business plan for the PRC, 2018 2020 and is aligned with ADB's (i) country partnership strategy for the PRC, 2016 -2020, supporting socially inclusive, environmentally sustainable, and economically competitive development; and (ii) ADB's Strategy 2030 operational priority on livable cities, adhering to the principles of supporting upper middle-income countries by (a) providing integrated solutions for a livable city demonstrating low-carbon climate-resilient healthy city development generating synergies and cobenefits, (b) enhancing resilience to climate change shocks and stresses including reducing flood risk and increasing water safety and security, (c) strengthening institutional knowledge and capacity building, and (d) sharing best practices and innovation experiences for south south cooperation.

Low-carbon bus rapid transit line integrated with nonmotorized transport infrastructure constructed

Climate-resilient flood risk management and sponge city green infrastructure constructed

Water supply system improved

Capacity in low-carbon, climate-resilient, healthy city planning, and infrastructure management, developed