Theplanstatesthatecologicalprotectionandgreendevelopmentarethemainpriorities:anoverallarrangementofproduction,living,andecologicalrestorationshallbemade;balancedurban-ruraldevelopmentshallbeachieved;infrastructureandpublicservicesshallbeimproved;attentionshallbepaidtothedensityofurbanconstructionandpopulation,whilethewaterenvironmentshallbeprotected.
InitsfirstphaseXionganNewAreacoversabout100squarekilometers.Inadeparturefromtraditionalmodesofurbandevelopmentwhichseetheexpansionofacityfromitscenter,Xionganwillcon-sistofthreesectionstoavoidtheover-concentrationofresourcesandpopulationinonecentralarea.Thenorthsectionwillincludefiveurbangroups.Thecentralarea,whichusedtobefertilearableland,willberestoredandbetterutilized.ThesouthareaisadjacenttotheBaiyangdianLake,sospecialattentionwillbepaidtoecologicalimpactsonthisareaduringthedevelopment.Anareaofabout20-30squarekilometersinthestartingareawillbeselectedforBeijing鈥檚non-capitalfunctions.
High-endandhigh-techindustrieswillbedevelopedinthefiveurbangroups鈥揦iongxianCounty,RongchengCounty,AnxinCounty,ZhailiTown,andZangangTown.Inanareathatcoversabout50squarekilometers,villageswillbedevelopedwhichfeatureapleasantlivingenviron-ment,soundinfrastructurefacilities,andgoodpublicservices.
AccordingtoZhuZiyu,chiefplannerattheChinaAcademyofUrbanPlanningandDesign(CAUPD),alltheseurbangroupswillbesurroundedbyforests,wetlands,andgreen-cladlands,andeachurbangroupfeaturescompleteinfrastructureandpublicservicesthatcanmeettheneedsofitsresidentsforworkandlife.
鈥淭heplandoesn鈥檛determineeverythingintheverybeginning,soitcanbeadjustedaccordingtopracticalneedsanddevelopmentinthecomingyears,鈥漵aidLiXiaojiang,amemberoftheexpertcommitteeadvisingthecoordinateddevelopmentoftheBeijingTianjin-Hebeiregion.Chinese-StyleArchitecture
ThebuildingsofXionganNewAreawillutilizefeaturesofChinesearchitecture.Accordingtotheplan,thecitywillbeaperfectblendofbothChinese-andWestern-stylearchitectures鈥損ossessingmodernandancientelements.
Skyscraperscanonlybebuiltindesignatedareas,servingasheadquartersforfinancialinstitutionsandenterprises.Thecitywillnothavecementandglasswallseverywhere.鈥淲ithabeautifulskyline,thecityshouldnotgiveafeelingofpressurewithahighdensityofskyscrapersandhigh-risebuildings,鈥漵aidZhuZiyu,whopointedoutthatthearchitectureshouldbeclassicalandmodern,bearingasimplebutelegantstyle.
Consideringitsflatterrain,thenewareawillbebuiltintoasquarecityfeaturingasymmetricalstructurewithstreetblocksthatresembleachessboard.Thenorth-southaxisconnectshistoricalandculturalsites,aswellasnaturalscenicareas.Theeast-westlineconnectsthedifferenturbangroups.Thenewareaisexpectedtobesurroundedbygreenpathsandwaterways,withparksdottingtheentirearea.
鈥淭heculturalinheritancehasbeenhighlighted.Whenmakingnewconstructions,oldtrees,memorialarches,andoldarchitectureswillbekept,allowinglocalpeopletovisitandcherishtheirmemoriesaboutthecity,鈥漵aidChenGang,vicegovernorofHebeiProvinceanddirectoroftheXionganNewAreaAdministrationCommittee.
Theplanexplicitlystatesthatlocalhistoryandculturewillbeprotected.Thenewareawillkeeptraditionalelementswhileincorporatingnewandmodernones.Oldtreesandmemorialarcheswillbeincludedintonewlybuiltparksandurbangreenareas,achievingaharmoniouscombinationbetweenurbanconstructionandhistoryandculture.Culturalsites,historicaltowns,andtraditionalvillageswillbewellprotected,allowingbothlocalresidentsandtouriststoappreciatethehistoryofthecity.
High-QualityDevelopment
Sofar,over100high-endandhigh-techenterpriseshavesetupbranchesinXiongan,accumulatingresourcesforinnovation.TheplanforXiongandevelopmentalsoproposestotaketheleadtodeployblockchain,terahertz,cognitivecomputing,andIPv6.AnaerialphototakenonJune2,2018showstheXionganNewAreacitizenservicecenter.TheplansaysthatXionganwillbethelocationforBeijing鈥檚non-capitalfunctions.Itwillattractelementsandresourcesforinnovationanddevelophigh-endandhigh-techemergingindustries,establishingamodernindustrialsystemfeaturingcoordinateddevelopmentofrealeconomy,technologicalinnovation,modernfinance,andhumanresources.
Whatisworthmentioningisthattheplansets38keytargetstobuildXionganintoasmartcity.鈥淪uchtargetsincludehavingmorethan90percentofitsinfrastructurecategorizedassmart,andprovidinghigh-speedInternetupto1,000megabitspersecondforresidentialhousesand10,000megabitspersecondforenterprises,鈥漵aidWuHequan,anacademicianwiththeChineseAcademyofEngineeringanddeputyheadoftheexpertcommitteeadvisingthecoordinateddevelopmentoftheBeijing-Tianjin-Hebeiregion.
WangDongfeng,secretaryoftheCPCHebeiProvincialCommittee,saidthatoneofXiongan鈥檚missionsistoprovideamodelofhigh-qualityurbandevelopmentforothercitiesinChina,andtoexplorereplicableexperience.High-endandhigh-techwillbethemostsignificantfeaturesofthenewarea.
XuQin,governorofHebeiProvinceanddeputysecretaryoftheCPCHebeiProvincialCommittee,emphasizedthatBeijingwillmovesomeofitsfunctionstoXionganNewArea,alongwithsomeuniversities,enterpriseheadquarters,financialinstitutions,andgovernment-affiliatedinstitutions.Asaresulttheareawillbecomeabaseofnew-generationinformationtechnology,modernlifesciencesandtechnologies,newmaterials,high-endmodernserviceindustry,aswellasgreenagriculture.
ReformandinnovationisthesoulaswellastheprimarydrivingforceforXiongan鈥檚development.Accordingtotheplan,XionganNewAreawillguaranteeconvenientpublicservicesforbothenterprisesandresidentsintermsoflanduse,tax,finance,humanresources,andopening-up,andmakepreferentialpoliciestofacilitateinnovation,thusensuringthenewlyrelocatedenterprisesandresidentscanstayandthrive.Thenewareawillstrivetobuildfirst-classtechnologyandinnovationplatformsintheworld,withfirst-classuniversitiesandeducationinfrastructuretofostertalentsandinnovativepoliciesandmechanismstoservelocalfirmsandpeople.鈥淭henewareawillbebuiltintoasmartcity,withadigitalversionofthecitybeingbuiltsimultaneouslywiththephysicalone,鈥漵aidLiuDuo,presidentoftheChinaAcademyofInformationandCommunicationsTechnology.
Theplansaysthatthenewareawillbuilditselfintoaleadingdigitalcitywithintelligentinfrastructureandamanagementsystemforbigdataassets.Therewillbeadigital-physicalcitysystemthatallowsdecisionstobetestedinasimulatedXionganbeforebeingimplementedontheground.
Accordingtotheplan,asmartInternetofThingsplatformwillbeestablished.Byutilizingnewtechnologiessuchascloudcomputing,thecitywillbeabletomonitorandanalyzetheuseofpublicresourcestoimprovetheirallocationandfacilitatepeople鈥檚lives.
AGreenandLivableCity
About70percentofXionganNewAreawillbecoveredbytreesandwater.Thenewareaswillbedottedwithparksinsuburbs,downtownareas,andresidentialcommunities,allowingitsresidentstoenjoyaclose-to-naturelifebyhavingaccesstogreen-cladparksonlyafewminutes鈥檞alkordriveaway.Theroadsandstreetswillallbetree-lined.TheplanstatesthattheforestcoveragerateinXionganwillreach40percent.
鈥淭herearenootherbigcitieswherevegetationandwatercover70percentofthetotalareaasplannedinXiongan,鈥漵aidWuHequan,whobelievesthecitywillresemblethebeautifulsceneryinatraditionalChinesepaintingwherethetownisnestledclosetotreesandlakes.鈥淓qualattentionwillbepaidtoregionaldevelopmentandenvironmentimprovement,andfloodcontrolprojectswillbecarriedout.Baiyangdianhasbeendubbedthe鈥榢idney鈥檕fNorthChinaanditsmanyecologicalfunctionsshouldbemaintained,鈥漵aidHeLifeng,directoroftheNationalDevelopmentandReformCommission.ThisAprilmarksthefirstanniversaryoftheestablishmentofXionganNewArea.WorkersareplantingtreesinZangangTown.GreenbeltswillbeconstructedaroundtheBaiyangdianLakeandtheentireXionganNewArea.Greencorridorswillbesetupalongmajorriversandavenues.Nineforestpatcheswillbeconstructedamongurbangroupsandinecologicalconservationareas.鈥淏yutilizingsuchfacilitiesasraingardens,sunkengardens,andwetlandeco-systems,thenewareacansaveandrecycle100percentoftherainwater,sothatthecollectedrainwatercanbeusedforplants,avoidingwaterlogginginthecityandcontaminationofundergroundwater,aswellassavingfreshwater,鈥漵aidGaoJunhai,anexpertwithCAUPD.
TheXionganplanemphasizesgreen,smart,andinnovativedevelopmentbypromotingagreenandlow-carbonwayofliving,andurbanconstructionandoperation.Advancedenvironment-friendlyandenergy-savingmaterialsandtechniqueswillbewidelyusedintheconstructionofthenewarea.
Theplansaysthattheconstructionofthenewareawillbepeople-centered,witheffortsbeingmadetoimprovepeople鈥檚lives,constructhighqualityinfrastructurethatcanbesharedbyall,andimprovepublicservices,inordertomakethenewareaalivableandsustainablemoderncitywhichisattractivetonewresidentsandenterprises.Thenewareafeaturesthreelevelsofpublicservices,targetingneedsofthecity,urbangroups,andresidentialcommunities.
Thenewareaaimstobepedestrian-friendlywithagoalthatleadingmodesoflocaltransportwillbebuses,bikes,andwalking,andconveniencestores,kindergartens,elementaryschools,middleschools,clinicswillallbewithina15-minutewalkfromhomesandworkplaces.High-qualityeducationalandhealthcarerecourseswillbeintroducedandevenlydistributed.
TrainsfromXionganwilltakeonly20minutestoreachBeijing鈥檚newairport,and30minutestoreachurbanBeijingandTianjin.TheauthorsarereporterswithXinhuaNewsAgency.