Recently, according to Announcement No. 13 of 2025 of the National Standards of the People’s Republic of China, two national standards—Urban public facilities—Urban furniture—Guidelines for system planning and design (GB/T 45793-2025) and Urban public facilities—Urban furniture—Guidelines for system maintenance and management (GB/T 45794-2025)—led by Professor Bao Shidu, Dean of the Environmental Art Design Research Institute, and his team, were officially approved on May 30 and will come into effect on December 1.
The release of these two national standards for urban furniture supplements the existing urban furniture system framework. The latter was established by the four key national standards issued under Announcement No. 7 of 2023, namely Urban Public Facilities: Urban Furniture—Terminology, Urban Public Facilities: Urban Furniture—Classification, Urban public facilities—Urban furniture—Guidelines for system construction, and Urban public facilities service—Urban furniture—Evaluation specification for system construction. Until now, these six national standards have jointly achieved full-chain coverage of China’s urban furniture standardization system, spanning foundational terminology, classification, construction, planning, design, maintenance, and management. They have also filled gaps in systematic planning, design, maintenance, and management, collectively forming a comprehensive series of national standards with a “foundation-technology-management” structure, which leads the global urban furniture standardization system.
The development of these six national standards, from drafting to approval and release, spanned over eight years. The lack of
Global urban development has demonstrated that urban furniture largely reflects the city and deeply influences residents’ happiness. The transition from low-quality to high-quality urban environments requires interdisciplinary expertise to meet people’s growing expectations for a better life. Urban furniture, which involves more than seven disciplines across engineering, agriculture, management and arts, is indeed a interdisciplinary field. It is also one of the primary research directions in future urban environmental design, a key participant in smart city development, and a manifestation of urban environmental systems engineering.
Over the years, Professor Bao’s team has collaborated with multiple research institutions and industry leaders, conducting field surveys in dozens of cities and holding numerous rounds of expert discussions to ensure that their standards feature academic foresight with practical guidance. These efforts strengthen the role of these standards in scientific innovation and gain the high-end industry leadership in urban furniture, accelerating the establishment of an international hub for urban furniture technological innovation in Shanghai.
Environmental Art Design Research Institute of DHU, a national “Double First-Class” university, will deepen research on urban furniture standardization and advance theoretical and practical innovations by integrating disciplinary strengths with urban environmental development. The institute will conduct sustained researches in urban furniture system planning and design theories, focus on smart and green transition and promote the implementation of standards. Through pilot demonstrations, talent cultivation, and other initiatives, it will provide intellectual support for urban public space construction and contribute to DHU’s “Double First-Class” discipline development.
