context: Not long ago, the state encouraged the 'feature town' model for urbanisation. The state is now starting to pump the brakes, concerned with growing risks from rising government debt and unhealthy real estate development.
National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) issued ‘Opinions on promoting and regulating feature towns' together with Ministry of Land and Resources, Ministry of Environmental Protection and Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development. Key tasks include
- highlight individual features
- each feature town should have distinctive characteristics and specific functions
- comply with rules of development
- feature towns should be aligned with their region’s urbanisation process
- avoid repetitiveness
- the construction of feature towns should follow local conditions and set the direction based on resource strength and development potential
- respect ecosystem
- the setup of feature towns should reconcile economic production, convenience of urban living and environmental protection
- enhance market mechanisms
- enterprises and private organisations should take the lead in running and investing in feature towns instead of local governments
- set up periodic performance review and evaluation regimes
- mitigate local government debt risks
- prevent speculative real estate investing in feature towns
- optimise the utilisation of land resources
- maintain ecological protection red line