NARROW alleyways littered with garbage and a cobweb of wires above are the first things you see when you enter an urban village in Shenzhen.

    Urban villages were once their own world nestled between the glistening buildings of modern Shenzhen. But things are changing.

    Following a successful pilot project that transformed Shuiwei, the Futian District Government is planning to give a facelift to 15 urban villages over the next three years. Two billion yuan will be used to lay gas pipelines, upgrade firefighting and public security systems and add cultural and sports facilities.

    The government is promising to keep old buildings to respect local history.

    Multi-story parking garages will be built to deal with a lack of parking spaces.

    Nearly 8,000 buildings are in Futian’s 15 urban villages, housing 900,000 people. (Debra Li)