Urban planning as a way to pursue quality-oriented urbanization: Anatomy of the urban planning of Xiong’an New Area, China

ABSTRACT

In the mid-2010s, China initiated a quality-oriented urbanization model aimed at overcoming the urban crises resulting from the past quantity-oriented urbanization. The Xiong’an New Area (XNA), China’s latest national-level new area, has been planned such that it serves as a showcase of the quality-oriented urbanization model. Based on a review of the official urban planning documents, this paper examines the characteristics of the XNA’s urban planning and finds that the urban planning has integrated environmental friendliness, social inclusion, innovation-driven economy, cultural inheritance, and smart urban governance to facilitate the XNA’s pursuit of quality-oriented urbanization. Besides analyzing its improvement over the previous urban planning, this paper also examines the XNA’s challenges in its urban planning implementation. Although the XNA is subject to circumstances that make it unique, its urban planning can serve as a point of reference for attempts to urbanize among the world’s other cities. This paper contributes to a more thorough understanding of the role of urban planning in promoting the transformation from quantity-oriented to quality-oriented urbanization models in the Chinese context.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. In addition to serving as the national political center, Beijing is also the national economic, cultural, and scientific centers of China.

2. The “starting area” refers to the area where the first phase of the XNA planning will be implemented.

3. The “urban illnesses” include traffic congestion, environmental pollution, and unaffordable housing prices resulted from the rapid population increase. From 2000 through 2020, the Beijing’s population has soared from 13.82 million to 21.54 million, an increase of 56% (The Bureau of Statistics of Beijing, 2021).

4. The Baiyangdian Lake is the largest lake in northern China. Its water area is 270 square kilometers, including 143 interrelated lakes of different sizes.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by (1) the National Natural Science Foundation of China [71874154]; (2) Center for Balance Architecture, Zhejiang University; and (3) Center for Xiong’an Development, Zhejiang University.

Notes on contributors

Yonghua Zou

Yonghua Zou is a ZJU100 Young Professor at the School of Public Affairs, and a researcher at the Center for Balance Architecture, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China. His research interests include urban governance, housing policy, and sustainable urbanization. He can be reached via [email protected].

Ziwei Chen

Ziwei Chen is a PhD candidate of the Urban Development and Management Program, School of Public Affairs, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China. Her research interests include urban governance and housing policy. She can be reached via [email protected].

Ni Zhong

Ni Zhong is a PhD candidate of the Urban Development and Management Program, School of Public Affairs, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China. Her research interests include urban governance and health cities. She can be reached via [email protected].

Wanxia Zhao

Wanxia Zhao is an Association Professor at the School of Political Science and Public Administration, East China University of Political Science and Law, Shanghai, China. Her research interests include public policy and sustainable development. She can be reached via [email protected].