Chongqing - As a city built among mountains and hills, Chongqing deals with urban landscaping that is uniquely different from plain cities.

Due to the complex mountainous geography, there are a lot of slopes, ridges, and cliffs left by the city planners previously since buildings are hard to be built over those bald and steep areas. "Pokanya," as locals call them, were the last spaces considered "valuable."

Leaving them behind is not an option either. "Pokanya" hides security risks other than the issue of urban landscaping. In 2017, an old fort-like ridge at Chenjiaping, Jiulongpo District, collapsed, burying cars nearby, making administrators realize the urgency of reforming "Pokanya."

In 2019, the Chongqing government issued a plan to reform 309 positions of slopes, ridges, and cliffs within the central districts, with 13.23 million square meters large in total. The project goes along with the city's landscaping projects, aiming to transform those places into safe and beautiful city parks.

The gardeners used bush cover and hanging nets to reform the area. The whole space was like covered with a green blanket, both in a technical and visual sense. (Photo/Feng Zhiyi)

Liren Park is a typical city park based on "Pokanya" in Chongqing Liangjiang New Area. The original land was on a slope with 50 meters of maximum height difference. Shales structure a ridge here, so it's hard to plant greenery.

On Renhe Street, a waste slope was turned into a sports park, including a skate playground, an athletic track, and a sandpit. Folks of all generations could find their pleasure here.

The sports park plan revives a wasteland at Renhe, Chongqing Liangjiang New Area street corner. (Photo/Zhang Kunkun)

"The disadvantage of this place becomes the biggest advantage," said an officer at the city planning department of Liangjiang New Area. "The feature of the slope and hill in this park is a cultural attraction of our city."

Chongqing Liangjiang New Area is the city's pioneer in dealing with "Pokanya." The new area plans to reform 72 positions of "Pokanya" in the future, with 3.82 million square meters, about one-fourth of the central districts.