Seven departments including the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development recently issued the "Guiding Opinions on Strengthening the Construction of Student Dormitories in Colleges and Universities" to guide colleges and universities to complete the construction of dormitories through various methods such as new construction, renovation and expansion, repair, and assembly transformation and upgrading. The shortcomings of college student dormitories.

The guidance is clear, supporting colleges and universities with large dormitory area gaps and conditions for new construction to build a new batch of student dormitories with reference to the "Building Area Indicators for General Institutions of Higher Education". New dormitories are encouraged to be planned and constructed in accordance with the standard planning and construction of four-person rooms for undergraduate students, two-person rooms for master's students, and single rooms for doctoral students. For existing dormitories with low construction standards, outdated facilities, and low land utilization rates, the protection value should be distinguished, and policies and procedures related to "demolition of the old and construction of new ones" and "demolition of the old and repairing of the old" should be optimized in accordance with the principle of "preserving everything that should be preserved". Support the construction of new dormitories on the original sites after demolition of qualified university student dormitories. On the premise of complying with the national land and spatial planning, it is encouraged to appropriately increase the floor area ratio of university buildings and improve the level of economical and intensive use of land.

On the premise of ensuring safety, protecting historical and cultural heritage and handling adjacent relationships, support universities to optimize the spatial structure of existing campuses, update existing dormitories, and appropriately increase the scale of buildings. Encourage the renovation and upgrading of old student dormitories to improve the efficiency of renovation and secondary upgrades and improve fire safety capabilities. Guide local governments to optimize the use of idle resources and provide turnover housing for university student dormitories to "demolish old ones and build new ones" and renovate them. Universities with a large gap in guidance resources and difficulty in building new buildings should renovate and utilize on-campus hostels, training centers and other buildings with accommodation functions. Encourage colleges and universities to supplement dormitory resources by purchasing and leasing talent apartments, residential buildings and other social housing around the school, and strengthen the management of supporting services in accordance with the same standards within the school. Strengthen the management of existing housing safety assessment, renovation design and construction in strict accordance with relevant laws, regulations and mandatory standards for project construction to ensure project quality.

The guidance proposes to lay out diversified service scenarios, optimize the functional settings of student dormitories, strengthen space sharing and composite utilization, synchronize the planning and construction of study, leisure, entertainment, fitness, club activities and other spaces with student dormitories, and scientifically configure fire protection facilities and equipment. Rely on student dormitories to carry out rich and colorful cultural activities, improve the quality of student dormitories, and meet the various needs of housing and education.

Excerpted from "China Construction News" 2024.01.19 Zongbian