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Big plans set for province
By Pan Zheng |
March 14, 2011, Monday
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ACCORDING to a recently released plan, a lot of changes are in store for Zhejiang Province. Pan Zheng looks at some of the ways the area will be transformed over the next 10 years.
Zhejiang Province aims to build a vast and convenient transportation network, and improve people's living standard in the following 10 years, according to a newly released Zhejiang Urban Planning (2011-2020).
The new plan took five years to work out and get approval. It sets several goals for future development, including high internationalization, strong innovative power, rich urban and rural areas, a better ecological environment and thriving cultural development.
The traffic blueprint is a highlight of the entire plan.
According to the plan, most freight transportation will use expressways, while tourists will travel mainly by railways and Metro lines. And with these means, it will take less than one hour to travel from Hangzhou to other main cities in the Yangtze River Delta region, and less than three hours to travel between any cities inside Zhejiang Province.
In addition, three cross-sea railways will also be constructed, including the railway bridge at Hangzhou Bay, the railways from Ningbo City to Zhoushan City, and from Wenzhou City to Dongtou County. As a result, Zhejiang will become the province with the most cross-sea railways in China.
"Compared with expressways, railway transportation uses less land for construction," said Chen Jianjun, director of the Regional Economy and Urban Development Research Center of Zhejiang University, "and electric trains are more environmentally friendly than automobiles which burn fuel."
According to the new plan, all cities and towns in Zhejiang will be placed into one of the five levels - four central urban areas in the Yangtze River Delta: Hangzhou, Wenzhou, Ningbo and Jinhua-Yiwu area; seven provincial central cities including Jiaxing, Taizhou and Zhoushan; about 60 central cities of county and city level; about 200 central towns; and about 400 common towns.
A new concept of urban light rail transit has also been raised in the plan, which means the light railways will connect all the four central urban areas. And in Hangzhou, there will be three light rail transit lines - Hangzhou to Linping, Hangzhou to Fuyang, and Hangzhou to Shangyu.
According to the plan, by 2020, the entire population of Zhejiang Province will reach 58 million, and the rate of urbanization will be around 72 percent, which means 41 to 42 million people will live in urban areas; the coverage rate of social security insurance will reach 100 percent; each low and medium-income families will be able to enjoy affordable housing; more than 90 percent of rural residents will get involved in the new rural cooperative medical system.
As the capital city of Zhejiang province, Hangzhou has been described as the provincial cultural center. Living quality improvement and cultural innovation will become the two major themes of the city; the high-tech and modern manufacturing industries will promote the city's development; and Xiaoshan International Airport will become a continental air transportation hub similar to Shanghai's Pudong Airport and Hongqiao Airport.
By 2020, the urban population of Hangzhou will reach 7.1 to 7.4 million, with 4.3 to 4.8 million living in downtown areas. The population of Hangzhou central area and Fuyang will increase, while in Jiande and Chun'an it will decrease, as these two counties have been defined as areas designated for the protection of water resources.
Zhejiang Province aims to build a vast and convenient transportation network, and improve people's living standard in the following 10 years, according to a newly released Zhejiang Urban Planning (2011-2020).
The new plan took five years to work out and get approval. It sets several goals for future development, including high internationalization, strong innovative power, rich urban and rural areas, a better ecological environment and thriving cultural development.
The traffic blueprint is a highlight of the entire plan.
According to the plan, most freight transportation will use expressways, while tourists will travel mainly by railways and Metro lines. And with these means, it will take less than one hour to travel from Hangzhou to other main cities in the Yangtze River Delta region, and less than three hours to travel between any cities inside Zhejiang Province.
In addition, three cross-sea railways will also be constructed, including the railway bridge at Hangzhou Bay, the railways from Ningbo City to Zhoushan City, and from Wenzhou City to Dongtou County. As a result, Zhejiang will become the province with the most cross-sea railways in China.
"Compared with expressways, railway transportation uses less land for construction," said Chen Jianjun, director of the Regional Economy and Urban Development Research Center of Zhejiang University, "and electric trains are more environmentally friendly than automobiles which burn fuel."
According to the new plan, all cities and towns in Zhejiang will be placed into one of the five levels - four central urban areas in the Yangtze River Delta: Hangzhou, Wenzhou, Ningbo and Jinhua-Yiwu area; seven provincial central cities including Jiaxing, Taizhou and Zhoushan; about 60 central cities of county and city level; about 200 central towns; and about 400 common towns.
A new concept of urban light rail transit has also been raised in the plan, which means the light railways will connect all the four central urban areas. And in Hangzhou, there will be three light rail transit lines - Hangzhou to Linping, Hangzhou to Fuyang, and Hangzhou to Shangyu.
According to the plan, by 2020, the entire population of Zhejiang Province will reach 58 million, and the rate of urbanization will be around 72 percent, which means 41 to 42 million people will live in urban areas; the coverage rate of social security insurance will reach 100 percent; each low and medium-income families will be able to enjoy affordable housing; more than 90 percent of rural residents will get involved in the new rural cooperative medical system.
As the capital city of Zhejiang province, Hangzhou has been described as the provincial cultural center. Living quality improvement and cultural innovation will become the two major themes of the city; the high-tech and modern manufacturing industries will promote the city's development; and Xiaoshan International Airport will become a continental air transportation hub similar to Shanghai's Pudong Airport and Hongqiao Airport.
By 2020, the urban population of Hangzhou will reach 7.1 to 7.4 million, with 4.3 to 4.8 million living in downtown areas. The population of Hangzhou central area and Fuyang will increase, while in Jiande and Chun'an it will decrease, as these two counties have been defined as areas designated for the protection of water resources.
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