National urban circle reappearance: solve the disease of the big city

All signs show that the urbanization construction of China

He and urban development have entered the "urban circle era"

The national urban circle expands again.

On August 22, Chongqing and Sichuan jointly issued the "Chongqing Metropolitan Development Plan" approved by the National Development and Reform Commission (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan"). According to the "Planning", 21 districts in Chongqing "entered the circle" at the same time as Guang'an City, Sichuan Province.

Chongqing has also become the sixth national urban circle that has been approved after Nanjing, Fuzhou, Chengdu, Changzhu, and Xi'an.

With the continuous advancement of the new type of urbanization, my country's regional central cities have begun to enter a new stage of development in the urban circle, and many cities have proposed to accelerate the cultivation of the urban circle.

The industry generally believes that, in addition to the above -mentioned six national urban circles, some urban areas will be released one after another in the foreseeable future.

For example, in the "Opinions on Promoting the High -quality Development of the Central Region" jointly released by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council last year, it is mentioned that the construction of urban communities such as Wuhan, Zhengzhou, Hefei and other urban groups in Shanxi, and cultivating the development of the Nanchang metropolitan area.

The urban circle is becoming the key development direction of China's new round of urbanization. Some analysts believe that China's urban development has entered the "urban circle era", and the construction of the urban circle is becoming the best choice for Chinese urbanization.

The corner of the night view of Chongqing City. The bigger and stronger of the Chongqing Metropolitan Circle plays a very important role in the development of the Shuangcheng Economic Circle of Chengdu and Chongqing. Photo/Visual China

"Chongqing has become bigger"?

As the first municipality in the city that has been approved at present, the Chongqing Metropolis District is composed of the central urban area of ​​Chongqing's main urban area and closely connected surrounding cities. For square kilometers, the resident population is about 24.4 million.

A significant feature of the Chongqing Metropolitan Circle is to incorporate it in Guang'an City, Sichuan Province. So that after the news was announced, public opinion believed that the scope of the Chongqing Metropolitan area was Chongqing's entire and wide -hailing domains, and many of them "Chongqing has become bigger" and "Chongqing expanded".

In fact, the Chongqing Metropolis District does not include Chongqing, and it is not the first cross -provincial urban circle. Qin Zunwen, vice chairman of the China Urban Economic Society and Secretary -General of the Yangtze River Economic Belt Think Tank Alliance, told China News Weekly that the urban circle is not the concept of the administrative division, but an economic concept, "it is normal to break through the administrative division."

He said that the first national metropolitan circle, the city circle, has broken through the administrative divisions. In addition to the 4 Jiangsu cities in Nanjing, Zhenjiang, Yangzhou, and Huai'an, the member cities also include Ma'anshan, Luzhou, Wuhu, and Wuhu, and There are 4 cities in Xuancheng, and the number of cities accounts for 50 %, and even "the area of ​​Anhui City is larger."

Jia Ruoxiang, director of the National Development and Reform Commission of the National Development and Reform Commission and the General Research Office of the Institute of Economic Research, told China News Weekly that although Guang'an is a prefecture -level city in Sichuan, it is close to Chongqing, only 150 kilometers, and the economic connection is very close.

He said that incorporating Guang'an into the Chongqing Metropolis Circle is conducive to better promoting local economic development.

The construction of the inter -provincial urban area is considered to help eliminate administrative barriers, promote the flow of barrier to the economic factors, and promote the joint development of the regional economy.

Taking the Nanjing Metropolitan Circle as an example, under the radiation and drive of Nanjing, Luzhou and Ma'anshan City have benefited a lot. In particular, Luzhou City received all -round radiation from transportation, medical care, education, and industry from Nanjing. In other cities, it has become the third economic market in Anhui GDP.

Specific to the Chongqing Metropolitan Circle, Jia Ruoxiang believes that Chongqing itself is a national central city. Through the construction of the urban circle, it can strengthen its radiation driving effect on the surrounding areas, and it is also an important measure to build the economic circle of the Chongqing Shuangcheng City.

In his opinion, an important purpose of incorporating Guang'an into the Chongqing Metropolis Circle is to promote Sichuan -Chongqing cooperation. He said that in Chengdu -Chongqing's "Shuangchengji", Chongqing is an important core. It is important to make the Chongqing Metropolitan Circle, which has a very important role in the development of the Shuangcheng Economic Circle of Chengdu -Chongqing.

The "Outline of the Construction Planning of the Shuangcheng Economic Circle of the Chengdu -Chongqing District" issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council in October 2021 clearly states that it will cultivate a modern urban circle around Chongqing's main city and Chengdu, and drive the development of cities and districts and counties around the central city.

In November last year, the "Chengdu Metropolitan Circle Development Plan" has been approved by the National Development and Reform Commission.

It is worth noting that the "naming" in the "Chongqing Metropolitan Development Plan" approved this time supports 56 items that support Guang'an.

The "Planning" also proposes that focusing on cross -provincial and municipal regional cooperation function platforms, we will take the lead in exploring the moderate separation reform of the Economic Zone and the Administrative Region, and promoting substantial breakthroughs in planning coordination, policy coordination, collaborative innovation, and sharing sharing.

The urban circle is here

The so -called urban circle, the concept of general recognition of the academic circles is: one or more central cities as the core and the developed connection channels, and the urban functional areas consisting of core cities and areas with close social and economic connections in the periphery.

The urban circle is also considered to be a high -level form of the evolution of urban regional spatial forms, and a spatial phenomenon that has developed to a certain stage.

In fact, the urban circle is not a new concept. The theoretical research of domestic scholars on the urban circle can be traced back to the early 1980s.

Although different scholars' expressions of the urban circle are different, they all include three basic elements: strong core cities, close -up areas affected by the center, and close connections between the two. In 2019, the "Guiding Opinions on Cultivating and Developing the Modern Metropolitan Circle" (hereinafter referred to as "Guidance Opinions") issued by the National Development and Reform Commission, which defines the concept of the urban circle, is The big city is the center of urbanization with the 1 -hour commute circle as the basic range.

This is also the first time that the central level has introduced special documents to plan the development of the urban circle.

The "Guidance Opinions" proposes to cultivate and develop a number of modern urban circles, form a new advantage in regional competition, and provide important support for the high -quality development and economic transformation and upgrading of urban agglomerations. The goal of several global influence "goals.

At the beginning, the construction of the domestic urban circle has entered a new stage of mutual promotion and rapid development of policies and practices.

In March 2021, the "14th Five -Year Plan" outline clearly clearly relying on central cities with strong radiation driving capabilities, improved the level of coordinated development of commuting circles for one hour, and cultivated and developed a number of modern urban circles with high degree of urbanization.

Among the "Fourteenth Five -Year Plan" planned in various places, 23 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities have clearly proposed the construction of the urban circle construction.

In April 2021, the National Development and Reform Commission issued the "Key Mission of the New Urbanization and the Integration of Urban and Rural Ideons in 2021", which proposed to cultivate the development of modern urban circle, support Fuzhou, Chengdu, Xi'an and other urban circles and implementing development plans, support other conditions for central cities with conditions Under the guidance of the provincial government, lead the development plan for the urban circle.

Since then, the planning and construction of the metropolitan area has entered the fast track. Since last year, Nanjing, Fuzhou, Chengdu, Changzhu, and Xi'an have been approved.

In addition, some urban areas are being planned. The industry generally believes that more urban circles will be approved in the future, including the Wuhan Metropolitan Circle, Zhengzhou Metropolitan Circle, and Hefei Metropolitan Circle mentioned earlier.

In Jia Ruoxiang's view, promoting the construction of the urban circle is the product of China's new urbanization to a certain stage. He said that the urbanization of China has entered an important stage of improving quality. After that, a very important task is to solve the population of agricultural metastasis. By promoting the construction of the urban circle, improving the quality of China's new urbanization, and benefiting more agricultural transfer populations Essence

Qin Zunwen also believes that the construction of the metropolitan area is an inevitable trend of urbanization in China and the inevitable development of regional economic development.

He said that the country is clear in multiple documents that "the urban agglomeration should be used as the main form of urbanization." Now it is clear that the urban agglomeration is based on the urban circle. It is under the "dual cycle" pattern.

The data of the "Development Report of the Chinese Metropolis District 2021" released by the China New Urbanization Research Institute of Tsinghua University shows that the total area of ​​34 urban areas that can be recognized nationwide is about 1.346 million square kilometers, accounting for 14.02 % of the country's area, and 50.37 % of the country gathered in the country. The population has created 65.57 % of GDP, "its position in my country's national economy is increasingly prominent."

All signs show that the urbanization construction and urban development of China have entered the "urban circle era". In Jia Ruoxiang's words, China's new urbanization construction has entered an important stage of development of urban community to lead the construction of urban agglomerations.

New type of urbanization optimal solution

Behind the urban circle is a policy deployment that has promoted the development of urban agglomerations for many years.

The development path of the urban agglomeration is considered one of the important strategic deployments of the country's promotion of regional development. As the core of the urban agglomeration, the relatively small urban circle is regarded as an important starting point and growth pole to promote the development of urban agglomerations. Essence

"National New Urbanization Plan (2014-2020)" proposes "with people's urbanization as the core", "urban agglomeration as the main form, promotes the coordinated development of large, medium and small cities and small towns", and plans to build 19 urban agglomerations.

As early as the "Thirteenth Five -Year Plan" outline, it proposed the development pattern of urbanization space led by 19 urban agglomerations. These 19 urban agglomerations carry three -quarters of the urban population in the country, with more than 80 % of GDPs. Due to its extensive area coverage, it has become the main carrier of my country's balanced regional development.

Since then, the "Opinions on Establishing a New Mechanism of more effective regional coordinated development" issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council later clearly states that with the Beijing -Tianjin -Hebei urban agglomeration, the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration, the Guangdong -Hong Kong -Macao Greater Bay Area, the Chengdu -Chongqing urban agglomeration, the Yangtze River, the Yangtze River, the Yangtze River, and the Yangtze River The urban agglomerations such as the midstream urban agglomerations, the Central Plains urban agglomeration, and the Guanzhong Plain urban agglomeration have promoted the development of the country's major regional strategic integration, and established a new model of the development of urban agglomerations in central cities to lead the development of urban agglomerations and urban agglomerations to drive regional development.

However, in the eyes of many experts, "too far and too large" are the defects of the planning of multiple urban agglomerations in the country earlier, resulting in most regional planning only at the planning level.

Feng Kui, a researcher at the Reform and Development Center of China City and Small Towns, pointed out that from the perspective of development in recent years, some urban agglomerations have a large planned area and lack of necessary support at the urban circle level.

Relevant departments are gradually aware of the problem. The "Guidance Opinions" issued by the National Development and Reform Commission in 2019 will define the urban circle as "an important starting point for the high -quality development of my country's urban agglomeration". In 2021, the national "Fourteenth Five -Year Plan" outline further clarified that the internal cities in the city group will bear the important mission of radiating small and medium -sized towns around the surrounding cities, driving the high -quality development of urban agglomerations, and economic transformation and upgrading. In recent years, as an important starting point for the development of urban agglomerations, the role played by the urban circle has become more and more prominent. Qin Zunwen said that the metropolitan area has become a breakthrough to promote urbanization, and it is also an important means for the country to implement a new model of regional development.

He explained that a new model of regional development refers to the city's city group and the development of regional development with central cities. The urban circle is the intermediate link of the central city to drive the urban agglomeration. Therefore, the central city drives the entire urban agglomeration to first form the urban circle, and then it can drive the urban agglomeration and the development of the entire region.

In Jia Ruoxiang's view, central cities are the foundation of the construction of the urban circle, the urban circle is the core of the urban agglomeration, and the urban agglomeration is a key support for regional development.

In fact, some plans have put the "urban circle" as the secondary level of "urban agglomerations" to key positions.

For example, the "Development Plan for the Yangtze River Delta Urban Group Development Plan" in 2016 proposed the "one nuclear and five circles and four belts", of which "five circle" refers to "promoting the Nanjing metropolitan area, Hangzhou metropolitan area, Hefei metropolitan area The development of the same urbanization of the circle. "

Some analysts pointed out that with the central city as the core and the coordinated urban circle model of surrounding cities, it has become the best choice for new urbanization development at this stage.

The same urbanization is the key

However, urban planning experts believe that neither urban agglomeration or urban circle cannot expand and spread infinitely. The development of "large cakes" type will only repeat the same mistakes of "big city diseases".

Ni Pengfei, director of the City and Competitiveness Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that the agglomeration of cities is not unlimited. "Many people are full of areas. The reason why the central city is unique is because the function of the central city is superimposed, including the construction of the construction of infrastructure and public services behind the changes in the population and industry, so it makes it difficult for large cities to be solved." He says.

In Qin Zunwen's view, the launch of the urban circle is to curb the phenomenon of "spreading cakes" in the construction process of urban agglomerations, and curb the situation of greed and "swallowing jujube" in the construction of urban agglomerations. He said: "The urban agglomeration is 20,000 to 300,000 square kilometers or even larger, and it needs to be supported and grasped by the relatively small metropolitan area."

Qin Zunwen told "China News Weekly" that the national urban circle currently approved, except for the earliest approved Nanjing metropolitan area, has basically maintained an area of ​​20,000 to 30,000 square kilometers and a commuting radius of about 1 hour. "It will not exceed too much" Essence

So, what are the misunderstandings in the planning and construction of the urban circle? Jia Ruoxiang told China News Weekly that the scope must be grasped first. Because the core of the urban circle is to realize the same urbanization, the scope should not be too large, and it is necessary to delineate the one -hour commuting circle around the central city.

Secondly, we must seize the key starting point of the same urbanization. For example, you can first advance infrastructure, ecological protection, environmental governance, industrial development, social management, and institutional mechanism to achieve the same urbanization of important production factors in the urban circle.

Qin Zunwen also said that the urban circle is a main form of urbanization. It is necessary to realize the same urbanization with the surrounding area. "Is it a metropolitan area?

Send 2022.9.12 Total Issue 1060 "China News Weekly" magazine

Magazine Title: National Urban Circle Reinquirion: Solve the Daicheng Diseases

Reporter: Sun Xiaobo ([email protected])

Edit: Cai Rupeng

Operation editor: Xiao Ran

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