An aerial drone photo taken in October 2025 shows a view of the Dongshan pocket park in Guangzhou, south China"s Guangdong Province. (Xinhua)

　　BEIJING, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- When 72-year-old Shi Jikun opened his windows at home in Yuxi, southwest China"s Yunnan Province, he used to hear the repeated thud of balls and blowing of whistles from an indoor sports venue near his residential community.

　　"During the day, I didn"t dare open the windows," Shi said, recalling years when the noise disrupted his daily routine.

　　The sports venue has since undergone two rounds of soundproofing. Sound-absorbing materials were installed on its walls, while double-glazed soundproof windows were fitted along the side facing the residential area.

　　The noise has eased. "The neighborhood is quiet now, making everyday life much more comfortable," Shi noted.

　　Shi"s experience is part of a broader move underway across China to tackle one of the less obvious costs of urbanization: the growing amount of noise packed into increasingly dense neighborhoods.

　　As cities expand, the likes of homes, roads, businesses, construction sites and recreational spaces are often crammed together. China has, notably, been testing a neighborhood-level response to this challenge via the development of "quiet communities," combining physical upgrades with local management and mediation.

　　This initiative was launched as a national pilot project in May 2023. By the end of 2025, a total of 3,272 quiet communities had been built nationwide, benefiting more than 2.4 million households, according to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.