Overseas college students write and post wishes during a visit to the century-old Yixia Villa in Kuliang, a scenic area in Fuzhou, Fujian province. ZHENG SHUAI/FOR CHINA DAILY

Traversed by the Minjiang River, Fuzhou enjoys a typical subtropical monsoon climate. But the natural conditions bring the city many challenges such as waterlogging and black, foul-smelling bodies of water.

In 2017, the city government merged several water-related departments and established the Fuzhou Urban Hydrographic Net Joint Drainage and Dispatch Center for the coordination and management of flood control, water drainage and transfer, and sewage treatment.

A digital platform for water system dispatching has been set up based on cutting-edge technology such as big data, cloud computing and three-dimensional simulation.

The platform, covering 400 square kilometers in the city's four central districts, can collect hydrologic data from more than 3,000 monitoring points and generate announcements and early warnings through artificial intelligence-driven models.

It can also support an emergency response by remotely controlling water gates and pumps, deploying personnel, vehicles and supplies in real time, improving the city's ability to withstand natural disasters, said officials from the center.

Over the past seven years, Fuzhou has coped with 15 typhoons and more than 300 severe rainstorms thanks to the platform, according to the center.

Since 2021, local authorities have been building smart light poles around the city that provide functions such as traffic warning, LED displays, environment monitors, broadcasting stations and charging piles, in addition to illumination.

Through an AI-based camera, some of the light poles can record and analyze traffic conditions. Upon detecting traffic violations, such as illegal parking, the system will automatically broadcast alerts on its LED screen.

In neighborhoods dominated by the elderly, the light poles serve as guardians which can alert social workers via the community smart platform when detecting people falling or other incidents.

Fuzhou has created numerous smart application scenarios that include communities, parking lots and construction sites. Digital technology has been integrated into all aspects of urban governance, enhancing the city's resilience and people's sense of happiness, local officials said.

In 2021, Fuzhou won the World Smart City Awards for two initiatives: the "5G Plus Smart City "project, which received the Infrastructures and Building Award, and the "Smart Water Dispatch "project, which earned the Energy and Environment Award.

As the only Chinese winner, it was honored with the inaugural Global Award for Sustainable Development in Cities in 2023. The award, also known as the Shanghai Award, was jointly set up by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, and the Shanghai municipal government to recognize cities that have made strides in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

"Fuzhou has showcased its strategies on integrated urban planning and innovative growth, as well as approaches to climate change. Many of these practices are valuable and should be promoted and replicated," Maimunah Mohd Sharif, executive director of the program, said at the award ceremony in Shanghai.

Black-faced spoonbills, a critically endangered bird species, forage around a wetland in Fuzhou. LIN XI/FOR CHINA DAILY

A millennium-old banyan tree at a park in Fuzhou provides a vast canopy for wildlife to shelter under. CHINA DAILY