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China pilots "quiet communities" to curb urban noise, disputes_我的网站

新警察故事

一 | 日前航拍的沧州临港经济技术开发区。高宁摄在沧州，石油化工、煤化工、盐化工作为化工产业“三兄弟”，曾各自为战、独立发展。如今，在沧州绿色化工产业布局中，通过原料互补、副产品资源化，它们变成产业链上紧密合作的“合伙人”。

An aerial drone photo taken in October 2025 shows a view of the Dongshan pocket park in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province. (Xinhua)When 72-year-old Shi Jikun opened his windows at home in Yuxi, southwest China's Yunnan Province, he used to hear the repeated thud of balls and blowing of whistles from an indoor sports venue near his residential community.
"During the day, I didn't dare open the windows," Shi said, recalling years when the noise disrupted his daily routine.
The sports venue has since undergone two rounds of soundproofing. Sound-absorbing materials were installed on its walls, while double-glazed soundproof windows were fitted along the side facing the residential area.
The noise has eased. "The neighborhood is quiet now, making everyday life much more comfortable," Shi noted.
Shi's experience is part of a broader move underway across China to tackle one of the less obvious costs of urbanization: the growing amount of noise packed into increasingly dense neighborhoods.
As cities expand, the likes of homes, roads, businesses, construction sites and recreational spaces are often crammed together. China has, notably, been testing a neighborhood-level response to this challenge via the development of "quiet communities," combining physical upgrades with local management and mediation.
This initiative was launched as a national pilot project in May 2023. By the end of 2025, a total of 3,272 quiet communities had been built nationwide, benefiting more than 2.4 million households, according to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.
This approach now also has a stronger legal footing. On Saturday, China's Ecological and Environmental Code came into force, with a dedicated section on noise pollution prevention and control.
The scale of the problem is reflected in noise complaints. In 2025, cities at the prefecture level and above received about 6.83 million noise-related complaints, with social-life noise accounting for 73.2 percent.
Noise from neighbors, equipment malfunctions and disturbances from square dancing, a popular group exercise in China often held by middle-aged and older residents in public spaces, were among the most common issues raised.
China's quiet-community program is designed to address such problems before they become recurring disputes. "Quiet communities do not mean that there should be no sound," said Lu Lu, deputy head of the noise management division at the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.
The goal, Lu said, is to create a comfortable and harmonious living environment while balancing everyday activity with residents' need for quiet.
The solutions vary from place to place. In south China's Shenzhen, some newly built residential communities are incorporating noise control at the planning and design stage. Measures include low-noise pavements, vegetation buffers, separated pedestrian and vehicle routes, and automatic noise-monitoring equipment.
Older communities are using renovation projects to address noise concerns. In Xiaoshan District in east China's Hangzhou, Huiyu garden community replaced aging elevators and repaired drainage grates and other public facilities as part of its quiet-community program.
But physical upgrades alone cannot settle conflicts between neighbors.
At Fenglin Shunhe community in Weihai, eastern China's Shandong Province, residents, property managers, community officials and square-dancing groups agreed to end dancing at 8:30 p.m. The main lights in the square switch off at that time, signaling that it is time for the dancers to leave.
The key is to respond quickly to complaints and give residents and activity groups a way to negotiate solutions, said Jiang Chunyan, head of the neighborhood committee.
In another community in Shenzhen, property managers have gone further by treating renovation noise as a process to be managed proactively rather than a problem to be addressed after complaints arise.
Renovation work is divided into nine stages and mapped on a visual noise-management chart. Property managers use the chart to carry out targeted inspections as work progresses. Contractors are also required to work only during designated hours and under fully enclosed conditions.
The program still faces gaps in terms of regional coverage and long-term maintenance. Quiet communities remain concentrated in a few cities, while older neighborhoods and parts of central and western China have fewer projects. Some communities also face difficulties maintaining noise-control measures after initial upgrades are completed.
The Ministry of Ecology and Environment plans to incorporate quiet-community development into China's noise pollution prevention and control work for the 2026-2030 period. It has called for regular inspections, dynamic monitoring and follow-up visits to ensure that measures remain effective.
Zheng Shanshan, an official responsible for ecological affairs in Hangzhou's Xiangfu Subdistrict, said the next step should extend noise management from individual communities to larger areas through tools such as sound-environment maps.
"Quiet communities are only a starting point," Zheng said. "We hope to create more quiet spaces across the city."
。8月16日，沧州临港金诚化工有限责任公司中控室智慧大屏上，年产16万吨离子膜烧碱装置的数据实时跳动。“作为典型的盐化工企业，我们把海盐送入车间电解槽，产出烧碱、氯气和氢气。”该公司副总经理白海臣说，过去，氢气因不便储存运输，只能当作废气放空，氯气也难以就近消化。面对这一难题，沧州临港经济技术开发区转变思路，围绕金诚化工的副产品进行链式招商，于2022年引进先正新材料公司、科迈新材料公司、晋邦新材料公司三家化工新材料企业，推进当地石油化工产业链向下游延伸。如今，金诚化工的副产品顺着园区的工业管廊找到归宿：纯度99.9%的氢气直送1公里外的科迈新材料公司，用于生产橡胶防老剂，年利用量约1500万标方；氯气供给先正新材料公司，生产环保增塑剂；晋邦新材料公司则同时“吃”进金诚化工的液碱和先正新材料公司的氯化氢，用于生产环氧氯丙烷。四家企业抱团发展，一年节约成本1.82亿元，创造经济效益1.3亿元。在沧州临港经济技术开发区，不仅有盐化工与石油化工的循环，更有煤化工与盐化工、石油化工的循环。

二 | 作为园区煤化工的源头，正元氢能科技有限公司通过煤气化项目生产液氨、尿素，同时副产大量氢气。该公司的液氨依托园区短距离槽罐车，供给园区内的华茂伟业公司开展精细化工合成；煤化工基础原料服务园区盐化工下游精深加工企业；副产的氢气交由欣国氢能公司提纯处理后，供给建新化工、瀛海香料、华茂伟业等10余家企业，广泛用于石油化工下游企业的精细化工生产和氢能综合利用。

三 | “作为国家循环化改造示范试点园区，我们秉持绿色化工发展理念，推动石油化工、煤化工、盐化工融合发展，打造循环经济产业链条，促进资源节约集约循环利用。

四 | ”沧州临港经济技术开发区循环经济促进中心主任张蕾说，目前，园区内200余家化工企业产业关联度达86%。

五 | 产业抱团，顶层设计是牵引。近年来，沧州市围绕绿色化工产业，相继出台高质量发展实施方案、重点工作清单等文件，整合临港五大化工园区，实现机制打通、设施联通、规划一张网、产业一张图，加快“大临港”园区耦合发展。同时，加快跨园区公共管廊、储罐区建设，“港口—铁路—管廊”多式联运体系建设。各园区依据功能定位精准招商、错位发展，避免同质竞争。沧州石油化工、煤化工、盐化工企业正在深度融合中实现快速发展。今年上半年，沧州绿色化工产业营业收入达1078.8亿元，占全市规上工业营收的39.9%。