Four-year facelift as festival city prepares to welcome the world

In order to ensure the world gets the best possible impression of Shenzhen during the course of the 2011 Universiade, the city has treated itself to a four-year facelift in the run-up to the games.

In a move that dates back to 2007, the city has implemented a far-reaching reconstruction and renovation initiative. This has already seen a huge refurbishment of many of the urban villages in downtown Shenzhen and its immediate environs.

The sensitive restoration and renovation has built on a number of the city's earlier successes, one of which saw Shenzhen hailed as a model ecological garden city back in December 2006.