Haizhou District has announced an ambitious plan to undertake nearly 300 renovation projects in the ten years ahead. The projects involve renovation of worn-out parts of towns and villages and run-down factories with a combined total area of about 23 square kilometres, the size of Macao.

According to Haizhu District Party chief Deng Weiqiang, the renovation projects will largely be concentrated in the central and southeastern parts of the district, while urban renewal will be carried out in the northwestern part of the district. The nearly 300 renovation projects throughout Haizhu District are expected to be approved by 2012 and completed by 2020. The projects, which will cover a total area of 23 square kilometres, are set to give a facelift to at least one-fourth of the 90.4-square-kilometre Haizhu Island.

Some renovation works have already been completed. For example, the Taigucang Creative Culture and Tourism Zone, based on the sites of disused run-down factories, was completed and opened to the public in early June and looks set to become GuangZhou’s “living room”. The fashion display and branding facilities of the Guangzhou T. I. T. International Creative Fashion Park on Yiyuan Beilu have been built at a cost of more than RMB80 million; the park has hosted the opening ceremony of the Guangdong Fashion Week 2009. Haizhu District is also speed up various other renovation projects for The Pearl River Film Studio and Guangzhou Construction Machinery Plant.