Life of Guangzhou - Guangzhou Publishes City Development Draft

Guangzhou government publishes "Guangzhou 2020: City Planning Strategy" today and formally begins to solicit opinions from the public.

According to the draft, Zengcheng and Conghua will become the sub-centers of the city. At the same time, 11 new towns will be constructed around the city area. Five new towns including Guangzhou New Town, Xin Kezhan New Town etc. will be located in Nansha, Panyu. These towns are projected to be complete by 2020.

The draft also publishes house planning from 2011-2015 for the first time. It aims to build 80,000 houses with a total area of 5,500 square meters. The housing area per capita of Guangzhou is planned to reach 28 square meters by 2015.

In the following 3 years, the government will put great efforts into constructing 6 new towns including: Guagnzhou New Town, Baiyun New Town, Luogang New Town, Huadu Konggang New Town, Huangge New Town.

Construction To Be Banned on 70% Of Land by 2020

By 2020, grass and trees will still cover most of the land in Guangzhou and there will be parks less than 300 meters distance from urban residential communities.

The metropolitan development strategy for 2020 issued by the Bureau of Urban Planning of Guangzhou Municipality focused on ecological environment, urban culture and landscapes. According to the strategy, the exploitation of land in the downtown will be strictly controlled and construction will be banned on over 70% of the land.

According to regulations formulating urban planning designated farmlands, water resources and natural reserves shall be especially protected and any construction in such places shall be banned. In line with the terms and regulations, Guangzhou will divide the land into several sections where construction will be banned or allowed or permitted on certain conditions. Therefore, less than 1000 square kilometers of the total 7434.4 square kilometers can be available for construction.

Pan An, Director of the Bureau of Urban Planning of Guangzhou Municipality, said that the 30% of land still available can still satisfy urban development needs of the next 50 years.

(By Helena Zhang and Kimberly Barteau)