The Hunan Development and Reform Commission unveiled a new-style urbanization plan of the province for the 14th Five-year Plan period (2021-2025).

The plan puts forward a strategic goal of building a future-oriented modern city from six aspects – to be livable, innovative, smart, eco-friendly, humanistic, and tough, to satisfy people’s demands of high-quality life. By 2025, the percentage of permanent urban residents in Hunan will raise to about 63%.

The plan is based on the general principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability, reflecting the characteristics of new development stage in the new era, and being in line with other related plans. Five aspects are underlined:

Optimize urbanization layout. Tasks should be made to build the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan City Cluster into a key growth pole of China. By the end of the 14th Five-year Plan period, the population of the city cluster will reach 13 million, and its economic aggregate will hit two trillion yuan. Yueyang and Hengyang, two provincial sub-centers, will develop in differentiated and rapid manner. Three concentrated urbanization development belts along the Beijing-Guangzhou, Shanghai-Kunming, and Chongqing-Changsha-Xiamen high-speed railways will be constructed. Counties will function as important carriers while some small towns will be prioritized in development, in order to coordinate development of large, medium, and small-sized cities and small towns.

Move faster to grant permanent urban residency to people who move to cities from rural areas. Efforts should be made to improve the household registration system for the rural population who move to cities, provide basic public services for all permanent residents in urban areas, and complete related supporting policies. Focus will be put on household registration, housing, social insurance, healthcare, education, employment and entrepreneurship, and legal protection, to ensure that all urban residents can enjoy urbanization achievements.

Build a modern city suitable to live and work in. Work should be done to reinforce housing security, boost sponge city construction, improve emergency system, and elevate core competitiveness of city industries and job creation capacity. Breakthroughs will be made in public data sharing, in order to improve operation efficiency of cities. A green and low-carbon circular style of life, production, construction, and operation will be formed. Integrated protection of historical and cultural resources and historic landscapes should be strengthened to inherit history and innovate culture.

Establish a delicate and efficient urban governance system. Reforms in related fields should be reinforced at all stages including planning, construction, and management, in order to promote high-level urban governance.

Achieve integrated urban-rural development based on mutual promotion. Work should be done to promote free two-way flow of factors including human resources, lands, capital, and technologies, between urban and rural areas; allocate public resources in urban and rural areas, including basic public services and infrastructure, in a balanced manner; promote coordinated industrial development in urban and rural areas; and, reduce income differences between urban and rural residents. A new-type relationship between urban and rural areas will be established, in which urban areas support rural development; urban and rural areas complement and promote each other; and, urban and rural areas work jointly for common prosperity.

This article is from Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Pang Yuehui

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn