Dalian has notched up yet another honor acknowledging the quality of its environment and its excellent urban management programs.

On Oct 13, Dalian was awarded the 2009 International Award for Livable Communities (Livcom Awards) in Category E (population over 750,000), which was presented in Pilsen, in the west of the Czech Republic. It saw off several competitors, including Dubai in the UAE and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, to secure the award.

Launched in 1997, the objective of the LivCom Awards is to encourage best practice, in terms of innovation and leadership, in providing a vibrant, environmentally sustainable community that improves the quality of life.

The awards are endorsed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and sponsored by the International Federation of Park and Recreation Administration (IFPRA).

It took only two months for Dalian to prepare its application materials. Explaining the brevity of the process, Zhangjun, leader of the Dalian delegation for Livcom Awards and vice mayor of the city, said: "Behind those two months are our efforts and accumulated experience over 20 years. The judges and other experts were particularly interested in just how Dalian made the transition from being a heavy industry city to a "city of romance", with beguiling scenery, over a 20 year period.

"We have successfully found a way to coordinate economic development and environment protection, which proved the major factor in winning the award."

Twenty years ago, Dalian was a seriously polluted city, due to the large number of factories in the area. During the 1990s, the city government began an environmental campaign aimed at the relocation of more than 300 factories and the demolition of thousands of chimneys.

The local government has also invested 3.5 percent of the fiscal revenue every year for afforestation and now plants 500,000 trees annually, according to Tan Jibin, director of the city construction commission. By 2008, the green coverage ratio had risen to 44 percent, from 31 percent 10 years ago, Tan said.

Over the past 20 years, Dalian has built hundreds of squares, covering about six percent of the total area of the city. No one can imagine that many of these squares used to be landfills and chemical factories, pouring out black smoke.

Now the smoky plants have disappeared and been replaced by refreshing garden landscapes. The "green revolution" is said to have brought considerable benefits to Dalian -- raising its urban profile, as well as transforming its landscape.

Today it has become a popular holiday destination for tourists from both at home and abroad. During the National Day holidays this year, 1.21 million tourists visited Dalian.

In addition, international conferences are increasingly favoring the city, whilst a number of multi-national businesses now have offices there.