China unveils plan for better cities
Print Edition
CHINA yesterday issued guidelines on urban development, two months after its leaders met for the Central Urban Work Conference and promised to make cities more livable, efficient and green.
The document, from the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, set the basic principles, key tasks and targets for urban development and management, aiming to ensure that cities are “orderly constructed, properly developed, and efficiently operated.”
The last time China held such a meeting like was in 1978, when only 18 percent of the population lived in cities. At the end of last year the figure was 56 percent.
Urbanization in the past few decades has brought about significant social and economic changes, but also spawned problems like traffic jams and pollution, and compromised people’s safety. The ills have provoked public ire, putting pressure on city planners to find solutions.
Under the guidelines, China will limit cities from growing beyond the means of their natural resources and environment, said Chen Zhenggao, minister of housing and urban-rural development.
Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing municipalities all have populations exceeding 20 million. Cities like Tianjin, Guangzhou and Shenzhen have more than 10 million.
Priority will be given to the protection of farmland, while land for construction use will be “properly allocated,” according to the guidelines.
The country plans to take five years to inspect and clear up illegal construction.
The guidelines also called for city planners to differentiate cities with urban landscape based on local characteristics.
Aside from the exterior of buildings, factors including resource and energy conservation as well as environmental protection should also be taken into account in the process of designing and constructing.
As part of efforts to provide low-income urban residents with affordable housing, China aims to complete renovation of rundown urban areas by 2020.
It will also improve urban planning and construction of infrastructure, both underground and overground. Construction standards and project quality will be raised, the guidelines said.
To ease traffic jams, China aims by 2020 to raise the penetration of public transport to 40 percent in megacities, 30 percent in big cities and 20 percent in medium- and small cities.
Efforts will be intensified to cut emissions in cities with an increasing supply of clean fuel to improve energy structure, the document said.
It also called for developing smart cities through various Internet technologies, such as big data and cloud computing, aiming to upgrade urban management and services.
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