Key Takeaways
Rapid urbanization has left many of the cities and towns of Liaoning Province, on the northeast coast of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), with poor infrastructure, severe pollution, significant poverty, and a large population of rural migrants lacking skills for employment.
The province has been lagging in economic growth because of depleted resources and struggles associated with its transition from a state-dominated to a market-based economy.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) sought to support efforts to address Liaoning’s infrastructure gaps and other development needs through the Integrated Development of Key Townships in Central Liaoning Project. Approved in September 2012, ADB provided a loan of $150 million for the project to improve sanitation, heating, and transport services in key townships in Liaoning.
The areas chosen reflected the planning objectives of the province. Shenbei and Benxi are in the core Shenyang metropolitan area; Fuxin, Gaizhou, and Xinmin are along intercity connection belts outside the Shenyang metropolitan area; and Heishan and Huanren are included to strengthen rural links with urban areas.
Municipal delivery
“The project supported the PRC's 12th Five-Year Plan, 2011-2015, which promoted balanced urbanization and the development of cities that are livable, inclusive, and conserve resources,” says ADB Senior Project Officer Wang Fang. “By emphasizing municipal service delivery in wastewater, district centralized heating, and public transport, the project supported the national strategy of increased urbanization while protecting the environment and ecology and promoting efficient uses of resources.”
Key project achievements included constructing wastewater management systems in Shenbei new district to address the issue of degrading water quality in the Shenbei branch of the Liao River; and improving the district heating services of the Fuxin urban area by replacing small boilers and heating stoves in individual households. The project also promoted environmentally sustainable urban infrastructure development by upgrading urban roads and alleys, constructing roads and bridges, improving stormwater pipelines and sewer coverage, installing energy-conserving lighting, and expanding public green areas.
“The project design incorporated advanced urban infrastructure geared strongly toward people, adopting public transport innovations such as holistic road designs, bus priority lanes, and road safety features such as traffic-calming measures and separate nonmotorized transport lanes,” says ADB Country Director in the PRC Yolanda Fernandez Lommen. “The project also featured strengthened financial management, in recognition of mounting pressures that threaten fiscal sustainability, and included a leadership development program.”
Targets exceeded
The upgraded wastewater management facilities expanded wastewater treatment plant capacity by 25,000 cubic meters per day and provided a complete sewage and stormwater collection system. The actual days of air quality equal to or above grade II increased from 265 days per year in 2011 to 309 days per year in 2019; the wastewater collection rate rose from 43% to 90% during the same period. The Fuxin district heating component will annually decrease the use of standard coal of 27,771 tons when it reaches full capacity, resulting in an annual decline of nearly 69,242 tons of CO2 emissions.
Through the urban road subprojects, better road conditions and shorter travel times reduced fuel consumption, leading to a decrease of more than 56,760 tons of CO2 emissions per year. Annually, the Shenbei wastewater treatment subproject reduced pollutants by more than 1,616 tons of chemical oxygen demand, 645.4 tons of biochemical oxygen demand, 23.5 tons of total phosphorus, 260.0 tons of total nitrogen, and 168.4 tons of ammoniacal nitrogen.
Gender participation
“The project directly benefited about 1.6 million residents, of which 642,000 were women in the seven project cities of Liaoning Province.”
The project also exceeded its gender-related output targets, including those for participation of women (41% compared with a target of 30%) in the training plan, women participants (37% compared with a target of 30%) in the leadership enhancement program, and female drivers on new bus routes (39% compared with a target of 20%).
From 2013 to 2019, the average per capita annual disposable income of urban households in the project areas increased by between 25% and 115% in each of the project cities, while unemployment declined. The project created 3,562 jobs during construction. The total rural poor population in the eight cities/counties declined from almost 185,000 in 2011 to 110,319 persons in 2019—a reduction of 40%.
The district heating network, resulting in the disposal of individual heating stoves for about 5,079 households, has brought significant practical benefits to local people, especially women and children. These benefits include cleaner, safer, and more reliable heating, with reduced exposure of women to pollutants from household heating stoves. The improvements also reduced the workload of domestic chores and time spent for space heating, while cutting the incidence of respiratory diseases related to indoor air pollution.
“The project directly benefited about 1.6 million residents, of which 642,000 were women in the seven project cities of Liaoning Province,” says Director General of ADB’s East Asia Department M. Teresa Kho. “The project has generated sustainable access to improved urban roads, drainage networks, water supply networks, wastewater treatment facilities, and district heating, to improve the quality of life in key townships in Liaoning. Given the essential nature of this infrastructure constructed by the project, it is expected that there will be long term demand for these services.”
This article was prepared by ADB Principal Communications Specialist Graham Dwyer
