Yangtze River Delta Observation | The overall land space planning has been successively approved, opening up new patterns for Nanjing, Hangzhou, and Hefei.
On December 19, the Information Office of the Hefei Municipal Government held a press conference to interpret the “Hefei Urban Spatial Master Plan (2021-2035)” which was approved by the State Council earlier this month.
Since September, the provincial capitals of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui—Nanjing, Hangzhou, and Hefei—have all provided explanations regarding the background, significance, and main contents of their respective plans, which were the first master plans approved since the reform of the land spatial planning system. Observations by The Paper noted that compared to the previous urban master plan approved in 2016, the regional functional positioning, connectivity, technological innovation capabilities, urban service levels, and the impacts of provincial and inter-provincial radiation have all improved, indicating a “broader landscape.”
In the current master plan, Hefei is characterized as the provincial capital of Anhui, an important central city in the Yangtze River Delta region, and a national comprehensive transportation hub. Its core functionality is defined as an advanced manufacturing base in central China, a regional technological innovation highland, and an international air cargo distribution center.
According to the “Hefei Urban Master Plan (2011-2020)” approved by the State Council in 2016, Hefei was positioned as the provincial capital of Anhui, a sub-center city of the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration, a significant national scientific research and education base, a modern manufacturing hub, and a comprehensive transportation center.
The land spatial planning integrates the primary functional area planning, land use planning, and urban-rural planning, achieving “multi-planning in one,” which enhances the guiding and restrictive effects on various specialized plans and serves as the fundamental basis for all types of development, protection, and construction activities.
In the “Nanjing Urban Spatial Master Plan (2021-2035),” Nanjing is defined as the provincial capital of Jiangsu, an important central city in the eastern region, a national historical and cultural city, and an international comprehensive transportation hub. Its core functionality is identified as a national advanced manufacturing base, an eastern industrial innovation center, a regional technological innovation highland, an eastern modern service industry center, and a regional logistics center.
According to the “Hangzhou Urban Spatial Master Plan (2021-2035),” Hangzhou is the provincial capital of Zhejiang, an important central city in the eastern region, a national historical and cultural city, and an international comprehensive transportation hub. Its core functionalities are identified as a national digital economy innovation center, a regional technological innovation highland, an advanced manufacturing base, an eastern modern service industry center, and an international tourism destination.
The urban spatial master plans of these three cities represent a blueprint for sustainable development towards 2035 and serve to implement the national land spatial planning framework and their respective provincial plans. The enhanced spatial framework is beneficial in optimizing the role of the provincial capitals in regional development.
Zhang Jia, chief planner of the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Natural Resources, remarked during a relevant press conference that the current master plan for Hangzhou will lead the city to play a greater role in the region’s high-quality development, enhancing its influence as a key city in eastern China, collaborating in building the Shanghai metropolitan area, integrating into the G60 science and technology innovation corridor, strengthening ties with surrounding metropolitan areas, and promoting high-quality regional integrated development. Additionally, it aims to enhance global connectivity as an international comprehensive transportation hub, improve the capacity of Xiaoshan International Airport, and collaborate with nearby airports to create a world-class airport cluster in the Yangtze River Delta. It also seeks to establish a railway passenger transport hub system, refine the air-rail intermodal transport system, and develop a “one-hour traffic circle” with major center cities in the Yangtze River Delta and an “one-hour traffic circle” for the entire province.
The economic sizes of Hangzhou, Nanjing, and Hefei rank eighth, tenth, and twentieth, respectively, among cities in China. These three cities will construct a land spatial system to support the new development pattern.
Nanjing aims to serve as a dual-directional open hub, strengthening collaborative and synergistic development with cities such as Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Hefei, and enhancing the provincial cross-boundary coordination in land spatial development and protection.
Hangzhou will deepen its integration into the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the Yangtze River Delta regional integration development strategy, strengthening collaborative and synergistic development with cities like Shanghai, Nanjing, and Hefei, and emphasizing the coordination of land spatial development and protection in the Hangzhou metropolitan area.
Hefei will proactively serve the construction of the “Belt and Road” initiative, actively participate in the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, deepen integration into the Yangtze River Delta, and enhance regional synergy in land spatial development and protection in the Hefei metropolitan area.
The Yangtze River Delta is a powerhouse of regional economy in China. The combined economic output of the three provinces and one city of Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui has increased from 23.9% of the national total in 2018 to 24.4% last year, with an economic growth rate of 5.4% in the first three quarters of this year, exceeding the national rate by 0.6 percentage points. Among the 41 cities in the region, nine have a GDP of over 1 trillion yuan, accounting for more than one-third of the national total.
As a leading city, the “Shanghai Urban Master Plan (2017-2035)” was approved by the State Council at the end of 2017, defining Shanghai as one of China’s municipalities directly under the central government, the core city of the world-class urban agglomeration in the Yangtze River Delta, an international center for economy, finance, trade, shipping, technological innovation, and a cultural metropolis, with aims to construct a prominent global city with worldwide influence as a socialist modern international metropolis.
