Last updated: April 2025
At the beginning of the twenty-first century, Kunming’s urban planning faced major challenges, including fragmented development, environmental degradation, and limited green spaces (Ref 1). In response, the municipal government launched a series of strategic plans aimed at promoting high-quality urban development and environmental restoration. Baisha Lake was identified as a key area in these strategies, with plans for Baisha Lake Park first highlighted in 2017 (Ref 2) and reaffirmed in the "Opinions on Supporting High-Quality Development in Kunming" in 2021 (Ref 2). To implement parts of this broader strategy, the government entered into public-private partnerships. In 2018, land development rights for parts of East Baisha Lake were granted to Dahua Group, on the condition that 40% of the area be reserved as green space and that ecological restoration efforts be undertaken (Ref 3, 4). The Eastside Baisha Lake Park project, launched by Dahua Group in February 2023 (Ref 3, 5), is thus one component of this larger government-led urban renewal effort. The project follows the city's planning framework of “one lake, six zones, 46 scenic nodes” and includes 55 hectares of green space, with 40% designated as parkland. By the end of 2023, 6.5 hectares had been completed, and the south bank of the park opened to the public in September 2023 (Ref 3, 6). The broader East Baisha Lake area's development was originally planned by the state-owned Kunming Urban Construction Company, but land rights were later transferred to Dahua Group. Thus, while a private developer is leading the construction, the project remains a part of Kunming’s publicly driven strategy to restore the lake and enhance urban livability.
Eastside Lake Baisha Park
https://www.sohu.com/a/723809367_663389
Overview
Nature-based solution
- Blue infrastructure
- Lakes/ponds
- In-land wetlands, peatlands, swamps, and moors
- Riverbank/Lakeside greens
- Parks and urban forests
- Large urban parks or forests
Key challenges
- Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
- Green space creation and/or management
- Habitat and biodiversity conservation
- Regeneration, land-use and urban development
- Promote natural styles of landscape design for urban development
- Water management (SDG 6)
- Improvements to water quality
- Health and well-being (SDG 3)
- Creation of opportunities for recreation
- Enabling opportunities for physical activity
Principal problems in Functional Urban Area (FUA)
- Environmental Degradation
- Poor water quality
- Land use and Socio-economic change
- Rapid urbanization
- Unequal availability and access to public green spaces
- Health, Well-being and Social cohesion
- Disconnection from nature
Key priorities
Biodiversity (conservation and/or restoration), Social Justice and community
Focus
Creation of new green areas, Creation of green corridors (including connectivity between urban and rural ecosystems), Creation of large parks and urban and peri-urban forests
Project objectives
The project aims to implement the urban spatial framework outlined in the Detailed Control Plan for Local Plots in East Baisha Lake Subdistrict, Panlong District, Kunming. Originally defined as "one belt, two axes, three centers, and four areas," the plan envisions a leisure belt around Baisha Lake, two development axes along Siwa and Zhaoqing Roads, three centers for transport, services, and leisure, and four functional areas: lakeside services, commercial-residential, ecological residential, and automobile trade. This framework was later refined into "one belt, two axes, and multifunctional zoning." (5, 6)
Implementation activities
Implementation activities follow the "one lake, six zones, 46 major scenic nodes" concept. The six zones include the Urban Living Room, Wetland Exploration, Mountain Vista, Family Education, Lakeside Campground, and Fragrant Garden, while 46 scenic nodes integrate features like markets, campsites, boardwalks, bookstores, restaurants, and wetland piers to enhance public access and ecological restoration. (5, 6)
Biodiversity conservation or restoration-focused activities
Biodiversity conservation:
- Protect and enhance urban habitats
- Preserve and strengthen existing habitats and ecosystems
- Promote environmentally-sound development in and around protected areas
Main beneficiaries
- Local government/Municipality
- Private sector/Corporate/Company
- Citizens or community groups
- Young people and children
- Marginalized groups: Children, young people or youth groups
Governance
Management set-up
- Co-governance with government and non-government actors
Type of initiating organisation
- Private sector/corporate actor/company
Participatory approaches/ community involvement
- Co-planning (e.g. stakeholder workshops, focus groups, participatory mapping)
- Other
Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project
The construction of Baisha Lake Park and Baisha Lake area in general have been planned in local urban development plans since 2017 (Ref 2). Dahua Group, a real estate developer and land owner in this project, designed and implemented the park (Ref 3).
Project implemented in response to ...
... an EU policy or strategy?
Unknown
... a national policy or strategy?
Unknown
... a local policy or strategy?
Yes
(Baisha Lake area is highlighted as a pivotal development zone in the 2021 document "Opinions on Supporting High-Quality Development in Kunming" (《关于支持昆明高质量发展的若干意见》) and the commitment to deliver Baisha Lake Park was already emphasised by the local municipality as early as 2017 (Ref 2).)
Type of enablers
Governance innovations (such as public private partnerships)
Financing
Total cost
More than €4,000,000
Source(s) of funding
- Corporate investment
- Other funding sources are unclear
Type of funding
- Unknown
Non-financial contribution
Unknown
Impacts and Monitoring
Environmental impacts
- Water management and blue areas
- Enhanced protection and restoration of freshwater ecosystems
- Expected enhanced protection and restoration of freshwater ecosystems
- Green space and habitat
- Increased green space area
- Achieved increased green space area
- Increased conservation or restoration of ecosystems
- Expected increased conservation or restoration of ecosystems
- Increased ecological connectivity across regeneration sites and scales
- Expected increased ecological connectivity across regeneration sites and scales
Economic impacts
- More sustainable tourism
- Achieved more sustainable tourism
- Expected more sustainable tourism
- Stimulate development in deprived areas
- Achieved stimulate development in deprived areas
- Expected stimulate development in deprived areas
- Attraction of business and investment
- Expected attraction of business and investment
Socio-cultural impacts
- Social justice and cohesion
- Improved liveability
- Achieved improved liveability
- Expected improved liveability
- Improved access to urban green space
- Achieved improved access to urban green space
- Expected improved access to urban green space
- Increased visibility and opportunity for marginalised groups or indigenous peoples
- Achieved increased visibility and opportunity for marginalised groups or indigenous peoples
- Expected increased visibility and opportunity for marginalised groups or indigenous peoples
- Increased opportunities for social interaction
- Achieved increased opportunities for social interaction
- Expected increased opportunities for social interaction
- Health and wellbeing
- Gain in activities for recreation and exercise
- Achieved gain in activities for recreation and exercise
- Expected gain in activities for recreation and exercise
- Enhanced cognitive restoration, relaxation and stress relief
- Achieved enhanced cognitive restoration, relaxation and stress relief
- Expected enhanced cognitive restoration, relaxation and stress relief
- Cultural heritage and sense of place
- Improvement in people’s connection to nature
- Achieved improvement in people’s connection to nature
- Expected improvement in people’s connection to nature
- Education
- Increased support for education and scientific research
- Achieved increased support for education and scientific research
- Expected increased support for education and scientific research
Type of reported impacts
Presence of formal monitoring system
Unknown
Presence of indicators used in reporting
No evidence in public records
Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports
No evidence in public records
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No evidence in public records
Potential risks of implementation and trade-offs
Unknown
References
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云南房网 (2023). 独家揭秘！多图，未来的白沙湖公园长这样. 云南房网, Accessed on August 27, 2024, [Source link];
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Yang, J. (2023). 大华·公园天下白沙湖公园正式开工，百万方公园即将呈现. 云南信息报, Accessed on August 17, 2024, [Source link];
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云南房网 (2019). 白沙湖片区迅速崛起 这里藏着昆明的第二只“眼睛 ” . 云南房网, Accessed on August 27, 2024, [Source link];
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搜狐焦点丽江站 (2023). 昆明东市区白沙湖开发现状（最新消息）. 搜狐焦点丽江站, Accessed on August 27, 2024, [Source link];
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昆明楼市一线 (2024). 名校+名师坐镇！别怪我没告诉你，东市正在悄悄逆袭！. 昆明楼市一线, Accessed on August 27, 2024, [Source link];
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佳姐说房 (2024). 大华公园天下的配套公园—白沙湖公园. RED (小红书), Accessed on August 27, 2024, [Source link];
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君君的蝴蝶结🎀 (2024). 昆明🆓城市公园～一起来踏青吸氧！ - . RED (小红书), Accessed on August 27, 2024, [Source link];
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菠萝就是菠萝 (2023). 没想到这里竟然可以露营. RED (小红书), Accessed on August 27, 2024, [Source link];
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红黑人口库 (2024). 2024年[昆明]盘龙区人口常住户籍总人数口和第七次人口普查结果. 红黑人口库, Accessed on September 13, 2024, [Source link];
Eastside Lake Baisha Park
https://www.sohu.com/a/723809367_663389
Eastside Lake Baisha Park
https://www.sohu.com/a/723809367_663389
Information about this nature-based solution was collected as part of the Naturescapes project funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement No 101084341.