context: Central planning and expert opinions differ on whether the sizes of the largest metropolises should be limited. The crux of the issue for Beijing is figuring out a mutually beneficial urban-rural relationship in the 14th 5-year plan.
According to Yin Zhi 尹稚 Tsinghua University Research Centre for New Urbanisation executive vice director, the 5th Plenum reiterated that ‘new urbanisation’ should be achieved by 2035, reports 21st Century Business Herald. Principles of development include
- benefitting people’s livelihoods
- sticking with green and ecological development
- enhancing strategic strongholds for development
- enhancing counties and rural areas to ensure social stability
In a Qiushi article published by Chairman Xi Jinping, the urbanisation rate has reached 60.6 percent after four years of new urbanisation, reports Caixin. Yin says it is time to consider how resources can return to rural areas.
For Yin, the upcoming challenges include
- more strategic urban strongholds capable of participating in international competition
- concentrating industrial and human resources to trigger innovation
- improving education and stimulating generational upward mobility
- improving public services and promoting a modern lifestyle
- expanding middle-income groups
- achieving green development and improving resource efficiency to balance environment, agriculture and urbanisation
Xi’s article notes that city sizes must not grow unlimitedly. Central areas of Beijing and Shanghai already have a population density of 20,000 per square km, while Tokyo and New York only have 13,000. This is because the core of Chinese cities is overcrowded, Yin says. Holding central city sizes constant, population density is actually lower in Chinese cities. Low investment in public infrastructure and incapable governance, not population density, are the causes of urbanitis, Yin argues. Thus, limiting city sizes is simplistic thinking.
Regional coordination is the future development model, whereby cities of all sizes and rural areas can play their own roles, rather than homogenisation on the same path of urbanisation.