When China announced its decision to establish Xiongan New Area five years ago, it intended to build a green and livable city, catering to residents' needs, offering quality public services and infrastructure, and creating a new urban management model. It is also planned for the area to relieve Beijing of functions nonessential to its role as the national capital.
Currently, Beijing has overall development advantages than neighboring Tianjin Municipality and Hebei Province. Economic and human resources in the broader region are excessively concentrated in the megacity, leading to its main urban center undertaking too many functions within a limited area.
Therefore, the construction of a satellite city is necessary not only to meet regional development needs, but also to tackle urbanization woes in Beijing, such as overcrowding, traffic congestion and excessively high housing prices. This is the rationale for developing Xiongan, which covers three counties in Hebei and lies about 100 km southwest of Beijing.
Blueprint
From the perspective of urban planning, a satellite city can play two possible roles. First, if its public service, infrastructure and overall environment become better than those of the already overcrowded core city, it can attract population and resources from the latter. Second, it can serve as an alternative destination for people and capital bound for the core city.
Xiongan is expected to play the second role in the foreseeable future, sharing the development momentum brought on by Beijing. There is still a long way to go before it will lure people and resources away from the capital. Whether it can achieve this will depend on how Xiongan improves itself and how the socioeconomic landscape in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region evolves.
At this moment, the transfer of population, industries and services to Xiongan mainly relies on top-down approaches rather than market forces. For this reason, the new area should focus on its role of supporting Beijing while preparing itself for a more important part in advancing coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei as a whole.
In the past five years, efforts have been made in infrastructure improvement, the resettlement of people relocated by ongoing construction projects, and the ecological conservation program for Baiyangdian, the largest freshwater lake in north China. However, its development as a future-oriented functional area has not yet entered the substantive implementation stage.
A large number of plans and technical standards have been compiled. However, it is still too early to draw conclusions on whether they can achieve the expected results.
Two highlights in Xiongan's development stand out. Zangang is a large suburban cluster of Xiongan where its state-of-the-art high-speed railway station is located. The 91-km intercity line can take passengers from Beijing West Railway Station to Xiongan Railway Station in about 50 minutes. The district has begun to develop itself as a science and technology park, making use of its convenient transportation. The market-led development is in full swing, and many companies have settled there.
The other is the rapid progress of Baiyangdian's ecological restoration. The implementation of a series of flood control and water resource protection projects will help create a better environment for the future development of Xiongan.
Priorities
Attracting talent is a big challenge for Xiongan. Past decades of urban development experience in China have shown that the attractiveness of new cities lies in their ability to meet residents' constantly updating and upgrading pursuits of higher living standards.
Previously, a new area usually attracted industry through policy support, which in turn led to population growth. Recently, however, with China's reform and opening-up program unfolding across the board, the policy gap between regions has narrowed. As a result, urban amenities have become a large drawcard.
In the future, social governance effectiveness and environmental quality are also likely to top the list of considerations for incoming talent.
With Xiongan's development process moving ahead, more development opportunities will arise in this futuristic city.
First, it will offer a favorable business environment to incoming industries. The operating costs for Xiongan enterprises will not be higher than those in Beijing. A streamlined administrative system will also increase the area's appeal.
Second, it will feature high-standard public service facilities and put in place an efficient city management system. These in turn will influence the volume and quality of economic and cultural activities in a given area and the types of professionals willing to move there.
Finally, as many people attach ever-greater value to living in a healthy environment, Xiongan's achievements in improving environmental quality will make it more attractive.
Coordination
China's urbanization process has entered a time of regional synergy. The role of cities in driving growth still needs to be strengthened. As a country with a large population, larger and more prosperous urbanized areas are crucial to China's socioeconomic development.
Yet, an urbanization pattern centering on a few megacities is not sustainable. It is necessary to enable the functions that were previously overly concentrated in main cities to now be spread out across a wider area. With the main city at the core, the division and specialization of functions will fuel development in its immediate vicinity as well as in smaller neighboring cities. Additionally, it is imperative to advance urban-rural integration to ensure the parallel development of both.
This is neither a simple process of "de-ruralization," nor a process of unregulated urban expansion.
As the government promotes equitable access to public services, the free flow of population and industry between main cities and their surrounding small and medium-sized cities, and even small towns and rural areas, will be made possible. People will then be able to more freely choose their place of residence.
风物长宜放眼量——写在雄安5周年之际
今年是雄安新区设立5周年，回顾当年习近平总书记对雄安提出的要求其实是非常明确的：就是要坚持以人民为中心，从市民需求出发，做到疏密有度、绿色低碳、返璞归真，提供宜居的环境，优质的公共服务，有效吸引北京人口和功能疏解转移。从这个初心的设定来看，雄安新区是京津冀协同发展的一个非常重要的环节。目前京津冀地区仍然处在一个城市群和以北京为中心的首都经济圈的培养和发育阶段，总的趋势是人口资源仍然在向这一拥有巨大发展机会的地域进一步集中。
同时，这种资源的集中又不能够过度的集中于北京中央主城，这样会导致北京市的主城区在有限的面积上承担过多的功能。因此在北京市中心城以外，通过区域协同的方式建设新区新城是既解决发展需求，又可以有效防治大城市病的一条必由之路。雄安新区的产生，正是基于这样一个宏观背景。
从城市规划的角度来讲，这类新区会起到两个方面的作用。一方面如果它的公共服务水平、基础设施的支撑能力和整体的宜居环境能够达到甚至超越中心城市的水平，那么它可以很好的起到反磁力中心的作用。也就是说它可以反向吸引传统特大超大城市的人口和职能向这些新区新城转移和疏解。
另一方面，当更大尺度地域的人口和职能仍然向京津冀地区集中的情况下，它也可以起到截流中心的作用，使得被中心城市巨大的发展动能所吸引来的人力资源、资本资源不直接进入中心城市，而在这类新城和新区落脚。
从雄安新区目前的建设状态来看，总的判断是在市场主导配置生产力要素的前提下，当下雄安被市场所认同的职能更偏重于截流中心。要让雄安成为真正意义上的反磁力中心还需要有非常长时间的积累过程，这既取决于雄安本身的建设水平和标准，也取决于京津冀城市群整体的社会经济发展态势变化。
目前雄安所起到的反磁力中心的作用，更多的来自于行政指导力量，而不是市场的认同。这也是为什么在雄安的建设和发展上要有足够的耐心和足够的战略定力，不要指望仅靠三五年的建设就能实现它最终的城市定位。从目前的建设情况看，在规划划定的起步区和核心区内还没有开展大规模的实际功能性建设。这5年间花了巨大的代价去解决原来选址所存在的洪涝安全隐患问题，基础设施的配套问题，以及在白洋淀生态保护和新区开发建设当中产生的大量的移民安置问题。而真正面向未来的雄安新区主要功能区的建设尚未进入实质性实施阶段。
当然在城市规划方面，雄安已经编制了大量的规划以及相关的技术标准，尽可能的做了一些比较前沿的理论探索和图纸上的预案。这些探索和预案，将来究竟能不能够达到预期的效果，要靠未来的实践去检验，现在下结论还为时尚早。评价先进和不足，实践才是检验真理的唯一标准。
从目前已经初具规模的外围组团的建设来看，它的亮点大概主要集中在两个方面：一个是围绕着高铁枢纽雄安站已全面推进建设的昝岗组团，随着中铁集团主导的站城一体化的综合性高铁枢纽的建设，以及中交集团主导的围绕着高铁站区所形成的未来科技城的全面铺开，昝岗组团的建设已经进入了市场主导的实质性建设阶段，目前已经签约的很多企业是入驻在这个组团的。另一个亮点是围绕着白洋淀地区的生态环境、水环境的治理工作有了比较快速的进展，一系列防洪排涝、水利工程和与之配套的生态工程的实施会为未来的起步区和核心区的建设提供一个更为良好的宏观尺度的大环境。
人是城市发展的主体，未来的雄安新区如何吸引人才同样也是一个非常大的挑战。改革开放几十年来的经验证明，中国的新城新区对人的吸引力是随着人们对物质生活和精神生活的需求不断的升级更新的，初期主要是靠政策差吸引产业，再以产业带来人口聚集。随着中国全面的全域改革开放进程，地区之间的政策差其实一直在缩小，所以开始转向用更好的城市承载能力，更优越的物质环境来吸引人。未来公共服务水平的提升、社会治理能力的提升和生态环境质量的优化对人的吸引力度变得越来越大。
对于雄安的发展进程而言，需要兼顾以下几方面因素：首先是营造良好的营商环境，吸引产业入驻，带动人口增长。来到雄安的企业的运营成本和制度成本不能比中心城市还高，精兵简政，把制度成本降下来才有吸引力。其次，雄安的市政工程和公共服务设施的标准水平和运营保障能力，决定了每平方公里土地上可以承载的经济活动和市民生活活动强度及质量，也决定了它可以吸引什么样的人才愿意进入到这个地域。最后，在一个生态文明时代，在一个全民对健康环境的追求日益增长的时代，雄安的综合环境质量会决定它最终所能聚集的人口规模。
整体而言，中国的城镇化的发展进入了一个区域协同的时代。一方面中国的城市功能仍然需要进一步的强化。作为一个广域人口大国，我们需要更多、更大、更强的城市化地区来支撑未来中国的社会经济发展。用大白话来讲，我们需要更多的发动机，但是我们又不要中心城市一城独大的城市格局。需要遵循城市群的发展规律和都市圈的发展规律，使得过去过度集中于中心城市的功能能够在更广大的地域上展开。以中心城市为核心，通过功能的专业化和分工化，来带动中心城市周边近域尺度（都市圈）和更广域尺度的周边中小城市（城市群）的发展，以及采用城乡融合的方式，处理好城市发展与乡村发展之间的关系。这个进程既不是单纯的“赶人进城”的进程和“去农村化”的进程，也不是简单的分散化发展、盲目就地城镇化的进程。
随着基础设施支撑能力的均等化和公共服务的均等化，从中心城市到它周边的中小城市乃至小城镇，一直到具体的广大农村地区会实现更为自由的、城乡之间及不同规模城市之间双向的人口流动和功能流动，在人生的不同阶段也可以实现更为自由的居住地选择。
