SAMR (SAC) recently released the national standard GB/T 32555-2026, Management of urban public facilities—General requirements, which will be put into effect on February 1, 2027. The standard establishes unified general specifications for the full lifecycle governance of urban public facilities nationwide, facilitating the standardized, smart and refined management of urban public facilities in China.

With the advancement of new urbanization and digital cities, urban development has shifted from incremental construction to stock-based quality improvement together with the continuous building of new types of facilities such as low-altitude facilities, digital infrastructure and community convenience facilities. Therefore, the classification system and management provisions of previous standards can no longer meet the new demands of urban governance.

In response to practical urban operation needs, the revised standard addresses shortcomings in digital operation and maintenance, multi-party collaborative governance, emergency support and other areas. Its core contents include the following four aspects.

First, it highlights value orientation and humanistic care. It defines four management orientations: people-oriented principle, functional adaptability, cultural empowerment and sustainable development. It also gives consideration to people’s livelihood concerns, urban emergency resilience, cultural heritage inheritance, and green and low-carbon operation, setting clear value criteria for the whole-process management of facilities.

Second, it reconstructs a three-dimensional classification system. Breaking the binary classification in the old version, it classifies urban public facilities into three types: municipal facilities, public service facilities and digital public infrastructure. It adds provisions covering low-altitude infrastructure and community service facilities, and for the first time systematically specifies management requirements for digital foundations including City Information Model (CIM), computing power centers and urban sensing terminals, making the classification more forward-looking and inclusive.

Third, it clarifies a closed-loop mechanism for multi-party rights and responsibilities. It specifies the management obligations of property right owners, operation-maintenance organizations and competent administrative departments, and establishes a closed-loop multi-governance system with the participation in the supervision of social organizations, volunteers and the public. It also formulates practical rules covering the full workflow of planning and construction, routine operation and maintenance, inspection and repair, and emergency response.

Fourth, it improves rules for digitalization and data governance. It adds new requirements for lifecycle digital operation and maintenance and the development of unified digital foundations, alongside supporting specifications for information security and electronic archives management. It also establishes mechanisms for classified data control, security inspection, backup and recovery to strike a balance between smart operation and maintenance efficiency and public data security protection.

In the next step, SAMR (SAC) will work with relevant departments to strengthen standards publicity and implementation, organize targeted training by level and category, conduct regular follow-up assessment of implementation effect, and advance the practical application of the standard.