Urban communities across China are benefiting from renewal projects that place residents' daily needs within walking distance, resulting in greater convenience, stronger social connections, and more sustainable living environments.
The emerging concept in urban design has become known globally as the "15-minute city", based on the idea that everything from dining and parks to essential healthcare should be accessible within just 15 minutes of travel distance.
In China, pilot projects are embracing the concept in an attempt to shore up weaknesses in the provision of public services -- a key task for housing and urban-rural development departments across the country this year.
According to the latest data from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, by the end of July, 106 pilot complete communities in China have constructed and renovated 1,246 public service facilities, including elderly care service centers, community canteens, kindergartens, and community health service stations.
In Yibin City of southwest China's Sichuan Province, a community canteen providing discounted meals for residents, with special discounts for seniors, has seen booming business since its opening in May.
"Now that we have the community canteen, both my husband and I eat here. It's convenient and clean, and we can scoop whatever we want to eat. It's pretty good," said He Xianglin, an elderly resident in the community.
The canteen is part of a broader effort to bring essential services to residents' doorsteps. Thanks to renewal efforts, all amenities, including kindergartens, supermarkets, community health service stations, public activity spaces, and green areas, are easily accessible within walking distance.
"By fully leveraging the geographical advantages of a park-integrated community, we have built a '15-minute city' that offers green views outside every window, park access right at the doorstep, easy walking distance, and services enjoyed by every age group," said Xian Xiaoqin, party secretary of the community.
Data from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development shows that this year, various regions have demonstrated a commitment to constructing complete communities. Over 700 commercial outlets, including convenience stores, domestic service outlets, hair salons, and postal and express service facilities, have been established.
Meanwhile, 24,700 parking spots have been added, 710,000 square meters of public activity areas and green spaces have been developed, and 233 community parks have been built.
Many communities have also integrated barrier-free facilities, smart management service platforms, and installed intelligent sensing devices, benefiting more than a million residents.
A key driver of the 15-minute city is demand for sustainable living, and as such, many communities are placing special emphasis on the reuse of existing resources.
Ji'an City in east China's Jiangxi Province has transformed idle plots into leisure spaces as part of the city's comprehensive community development efforts.
A notable example is in a local sub-district, where a previously vacant lot is being converted into a multifunctional space combining sports facilities with an eco-friendly parking area -- a renovation project achieved through democratic consultation with residents.
"The government offered three renovation projects in January. Most neighbors chose the current project, and everyone is looking forward to seeing the results after the renovation," said Deng Haohua, a resident in the sub-district.
"We established a resident-led renovation council to oversee the entire process of the renovation project, including design, material selection, and construction," said Liang Yinwei, the on-site project manager.
Chinese community embrace '15-minute city' livability concept
Major breakthroughs by Chinese scientists have laid the foundation for a future where space-based solar power stations are capable of wirelessly transmitting energy to Earth and spacecraft, though significant engineering problems remain.
A research team from Xidian University in northwest China's Shaanxi Province has made significant progress on the Sun Chasing project, or "Zhuri" in Chinese. The team has developed a ground-based test system for wireless power transmission that can charge multiple moving targets at the same time.
In recent tests, the system achieved a wireless power transmission efficiency of 20.8 percent from direct current to direct current over a distance of 100 meters. It delivered 1,180 watts of power. The team has also built a wireless charging system for drones. In a test, a drone flying at 30 kilometers per hour was able to receive 143 watts of stable power from 30 meters away.
A space solar power station works exactly as its name suggests: a huge array of solar panels placed in orbit. It would collect sunlight in space, where the sun always shines, and then convert that energy into microwaves or lasers to beam down to Earth or directly to satellites and spacecraft. This could address two significant issues: supplying uninterrupted power for space missions and alleviating energy shortages on the ground.
"The construction of space solar power stations could become a major undertaking in the future. One potential benefit is access to a virtually unlimited power supply. Because energy can be collected continuously in space 24 hours a day, electricity could be supplied on an uninterrupted basis," said Fan Guanheng, an associate professor at the School of Mechano-Electronic Engineering at Xidian University.
"Secondly, it could reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, thereby lowering carbon emissions and helping protect the environment. Thirdly, it could support the development of charging infrastructure in space and enable wireless microwave charging for spacecraft, changing the way power is supplied to space vehicles," the professor added.
In 2018, the research team launched the first phase of the Sun Chasing project to build a ground test system. By June 2022, they had completed the world's first full-link, full-system ground validation system for a space solar power station. Now, the team has moved to phase two. The goal now is to solve the challenges of generating high power in space and transmitting it efficiently over long distances.
According to Duan Baoyan, an expert at Xidian University and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, recent breakthroughs include improving the efficiency of solar energy collection and conversion, increasing the precision of microwave beam control to reduce energy loss, and making the transmitting and receiving antennas smaller and lighter, which is critical for space application.
The team has also solved the problem of how to power multiple moving targets at once using a single transmitter. This means that in the future, one space power station could potentially supply electricity to several satellites or ground vehicles at the same time, Duan said.
Despite the advances in ground-based validation, a series of technical challenges must still be overcome before the technology can be deployed in space.
"The first issue that needs to be addressed is the adaptability of components to the space environment, as conditions in space are completely different from those on Earth, including radiation exposure and extreme temperatures. Another challenge involves the deployment and retraction design of transmitting and receiving antennas. We also need to develop thermal management systems to cope with extreme temperatures and temperature fluctuations in space. These are all areas where further breakthroughs are needed," said Qian Sihao, an associate professor at the School of Mechano-Electronic Engineering at Xidian University.
"We have now completed the development and validation of a ground-based test system, and our next step is to carry out in-orbit wireless microwave power transmission," Fan said.
With ground validation complete, the team now turns its attention to overcoming the harsh realities of space, aiming to demonstrate in-orbit wireless power transmission and bring the vision of orbital solar energy closer to reality.
Space-to-earth solar power moves closer to reality although hurdles remain: scientists
