Shaanxi Sustainable Towns Development Project

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The project is being implemented in six smaller cities (so-called second-tier cities with up to 200,000 inhabitants) along the Han River in the south of Shaanxi Province (Southern Shaanxi Region, SSR), selected according to vulnerability criteria. In the six project cities, measures to adapt to climate change and reduce emissions are being financed, regional cooperation is being promoted and living and growth conditions in the SSR are being improved through the rehabilitation of neglected urban districts. The project is being co-financed by KfW and the World Bank, which are providing loans of USD 50 million and USD 100 million respectively. The increasing urbanization in China has increasingly led to infrastructural bottlenecks and overall poorer living conditions in the country's so-called first-tier and megacities, caused by the partial overuse of existing infrastructure and environmental problems such as air and water pollution. In view of these experiences, the government of the PRC has realigned its priorities with regard to the development of second-tier cities. Their looming further expansion in conjunction with the effects of climate change makes them more vulnerable to extreme weather events such as heavy rain or flooding. The program objectives of the project presented here include - promoting regional cooperation in order to be able to respond better and more coordinated to environmental and climate-related challenges; - adapting to the effects of climate change (reducing flood risks) through the implementation of suitable infrastructural measures (construction and expansion of separate systems and storm sewers, flood protection through the construction/strengthening of dams and dikes, construction of evacuation routes and so-called emergency shelters, etc.); and - improving the supply of urban infrastructure through the renewal of neglected urban districts (construction of sewage disposal and water supply lines, rehabilitation of public squares and green spaces, promotion of non-motorized transport). Six million people in the SSR will benefit directly from the project.