How a new pattern of urbanism is growing out of China's Xiongan
本文来源CGTN https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d3d514e31677a4e33457a6333566d54/index.html
Editor's note: Yin Zhi is the executive vice-dean at the Institute for China Sustainable Urbanization, Tsinghua University. The article reflects the author's opinion, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.
It's been two years since the announcement of setting up the Xiongan Area. Both the development of Beijing's sub-center and the development of Xiongan New Area are signs that China has entered the advanced stage of urban development. The core development concept at this stage is regional coordination.
U.S. urban planning theorist Lewis Mumford claims that "the hope of the city lies outside itself." As an important pivot for the future of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration and the core part of the metropolitan area, Xiongan New Area's value is self-evident.
The core issue lies in the heart of Xiongan's development is how to build Xiongan into a highland for institutional innovation of China. The great achievements China has made in the past 40 years of reform and opening-up have proved that institutional innovation is the most important progress in this process.
Institutional arrangement is a tool to establish and adjust the production relations, the purpose of which is to generate new growth momentum, stimulate new productive capacity, establish a more stable society, and let the people live a better life.
As Chinese President Xi Jinping pointed out at the Central Economic Work Conference, the world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century. Under this circumstance, relations of production needs to be changed through institutional innovation, which includes a series of adjustments in demographic policy, land system, allocation of economic factors, relations between government and business, development concept, intergenerational relations, etc.
Xiongan New Area will become a testing ground for future institutional innovation. Just like Shenzhen in the early days of reform and opening-up, it's like a blank sheet of paper in which all kinds of innovative institutions can be tested.
China has witnessed rapid urbanization. But Xiongan differs from China's previous city construction in the requirements of higher quality development.
The new cities and areas of the previous generation were built to accommodate the explosive growth of China's industrialization, so they were characterized by a special focus on GDP and scale.
Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, China has entered an era which features ecological protection and post-industrialization. The characteristic of this era is that the traditional industry is no longer the key driver of economic growth. Rather, the drivers of social and economic development are increasingly diversified.
In order to meet the growing material and cultural needs of the people, a large amount of new economic momentum will be generated, which is also the essential part of the supply-side structural reform advocated by the central government. In the era of eco-friendly development, Xiongan New Area will explore a new pattern of urban development for the future.
As China's urbanization rate soared in the past 40 years, there have been many signs of discord in the relationship between production, people's lives and ecology.
A city for the future should seek a balance between three aspects. In the era of eco-friendly development, economic production must continue to grow to ensure the basic momentum and vitality of social progress; The quality of life will be further improved to enhance people's happiness and sense of belonging; The biggest difference between the economic growth and livelihood improvement in the new era and the era of industrialization lies in environmental protection.
If people only focus on economic development and life improvement and ignore environmental protection, such a development model will not be sustainable. Thus Xiongan New Area will become an ideal testing field to straighten out the relationship between economic production, life improvement, and environmental protection.
The ideal result will be a combination of a high-quality development, high living standard, and the resolution of existing ecological challenges. This is also why the development of the Xiongan New Area is different from that of new areas in the past. Instead of getting started with traditional development measures such as building roads and bridges, it starts with ecological restoration and management.
Another important difference between Xiongan New Area's future development and previous urban development lies in that its planning and construction are in sync with the rise of China's digital industry.
Therefore, in the planning process, the planners have not only paid attention to traditional infrastructures and public services, but also pondered on new opportunities that digital technology brings.
Big data technology has been already been applied to the decision-making process and social governance to create an ideal environment for both investors and residents.
So in the long run, we expect to see an environmentally-friendly city with innovative institutional arrangements and cutting-edge technology.
从一个规划师的视角谈对雄安新区未来建设的期待
（以下为新闻中文翻译）
无论是北京城市副中心还是雄安新区的建设，都是中国进入城市社会形态高级发展阶段的标志，此阶段最核心的思想是区域协同。美国城市规划理论家刘易斯·芒福德曾在《人类文明的区域框架形式》中写道："城市的希望和未来不在城市本身，而要到城市以外去寻求。"雄安新区作为京津冀城市群未来的重要支点和大首都都市圈的核心部分，其价值不言而喻。
雄安新区推动未来中国城镇化进程高质量发展的最核心问题和最需要突破的地方在于将雄安新区打造成为我国制度创新的高地。这40年取得的巨大成就充分证明中国改革开放最大的进步是制度创新。制度是建立和调整生产关系的工具，而建立和调整生产关系的目的是为了释放新的经济动能，激发新的生产力，建立更安定的社会形态，让百姓过上更美好的生活。正如习近平总书记在中央经济工作会议上所指出的"世界面临百年未有之大变局"。在此背景下，真正需要的变革正是通过创新制度再次调整生产关系，其包括人口政策、土地制度、经济要素配置方式、政商模式、发展理念、代际关系等一系列调整。雄安新区将成为未来制度创新的试验田。正如改革开放初期的深圳，在一张白纸上白手起家，放开手脚创新制度。
改革开放后，中国涌现了大量新城新区建设，而雄安新区与以往新区的最大不同在于时代要求的不同。上一代新城、新区应对的是中国工业化的爆发式增长，所以会呈现出GDP导向、规模导向等鲜明特征。自党的十八大后中国进入了生态文明时代和后工业化时代，这个时代的特征是社会经济的发展动力日趋多元化，不再以传统工业经济为核心（或占有绝对的统治地位）。为应对人民日益增长的、更广泛的物质需求和精神需求，将会产生大量新的经济动能，这也是中央所倡导的供给侧结构性改革的核心内容。既有传统需求的升级换代，也有面对日益涌现新需求的拾遗补缺。在生态文明时代，雄安新区将探索未来城乡发展的新模式。改革开放前40年，中国的城市化进程举世瞩目，中国也成为亚洲乃至世界城市化进程最快的国家之一。但在取得巨大成就的同时也埋下了很多危机伏笔，在生产、生活、生态三者的关系上存在大量不协调的迹象。在生态文明时代，生产依然要继续发展，以保证社会进步的基本动力和活力；生活品质仍将进一步提升，以增进百姓的幸福感与家园感。两者的发展提升与工业文明时代最大的不同在于需要顾及生态承载能力，应逐步形成生态保护、保育、修补的思想。如果只顾及生产、生活的发展，守不住生态底线，发展将不可持续。雄安新区将成为理顺"三生空间"关系的理想实践场所，既有高质量发展、高品质生活要求，又面对现有生态本底条件并不乐观的现实。这也是为什么雄安新区的发展与以往新区建设不同，不从修路架桥等传统方式入手，而是先从生态修复和治理入手。
雄安新区未来发展与以往城市建设的另一大不同，在于其规划建设与数字中国、数字经济、智慧社会的兴起同步。因此新区在谋划过程中不仅关注传统基础设施与公共服务，也花费了大量精力关注在智慧化、数字化时代的新机遇。从新区的规划到实施的进程在三个领域与传统城市不同。一是建立健全大数据辅助科学决策和社会治理的机制，推进政府管理和社会治理模式创新；二是构建企业全生命周期服务体系，打造成为国际一流的营商环境高地；三是构建数据驱动的家园服务体系，打造奋斗者的理想家园。这三点改革应与当下时代的技术进步密切结合。
文中配图来源于新闻原文https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d3d514e31677a4e33457a6333566d54/index.html
声明：文章未经授权不得转载、摘编或利用其它方式使用。已授权使用作品的应在授权范围内使用，并注明"来源：清华大学中国新型城镇化研究院"。违反上述声明者，本网将追究其相关法律责任。
