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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, February 18, 2004

Urban plans equalize balance, harmony

Top Beijing leaders are brainstorming this week trying to solve the problems brought on by traditional city planning styles, which are now challenged by a new harmony-oriented development strategy.


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Top Beijing leaders are brainstorming this week trying to solve the problems brought on by traditional city planning styles, which are now challenged by a new harmony-oriented development strategy.

Wang Qishan, acting mayor of Beijing, said the biggest headache for him is that a lot of land in the urban area has been leased for years, well before conflicts with the development strategy were found.

He gave an example to illustrate the tough issues being faced during informal discussions between deputies from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Beijing Committee Tuesday.

"There is an area near the eastern section of the Fourth Ring Road whose land use rights have been sold to a State-owned enterprise and the company plans to build a huge logistics centre there," said Wang, "The plan itself is fascinating but the municipal government did not approve it."

He said traffic jams along the eastern parts of the Third and Fourth ring roads happen regularly at present, and if the logistics centre is built, the situation would become worse.

"We cannot put too many burdens on urban areas according to the new development strategy which emphasizes a balance between the urban and rural areas," said Wang.

Meanwhile, traffic was one of the hot issues for the deputies yesterday, and Wang pointed out that the problem is also rooted in the old inadequate city layout.

He said the previous city development plan relied too much on the rapid expansion of the modern urban sector.

The city was built outwards along the ring roads that circle around the Forbidden City.

The downtown area within the Second Ring Road is crowded with too many government organs, institutions, hospitals, schools, hotels and restaurants, while most people live outside the Third and Fourth ring roads, said Wang.

People cram into the downtown area for work, to see a doctor or even eat out, creating a huge traffic flow on the roads.

"We need to create more (urban) centres around such as in the suburban southeastern area and try to balance the city's development structure," said Wang.

He said the municipal government plans to change the previous strategy, which focused on the speed of modernization, to emphasize the development quality and structure.

He said the city should co-ordinate its development between the urban and rural areas, between different regions, between the economy and society, between humans and nature and between development at home and opening up.

Source: China Daily


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