The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development covers 17 goals, the eleventh of which is “Sustainable Cities and Communities,” namely: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

Under this major goal, there are 17 targets, the 11.A of which is “Support positive economic, social and environmental links between urban, peri-urban and rural areas by strengthening national and regional development planning”.

●Current Situation

About the World

The world pays the price for poorly planned urbanization

On a global scale, modern cities, as the main carriers of human economic, social, political, cultural, scientific and technological development, continue to expand their built-up areas and accumulate more and more people, resulting in the rapid development of urbanization. As a result, 4 billion people - over half of the global population - in the world's cities are facing increasingly serious air pollution, inadequate infrastructure and services, and unplanned urban sprawl. Thus, the cost of poorly planned urbanization can be seen in some of the huge slums, tangled traffic, greenhouse gas emissions and sprawling suburbs all over the world.

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, over 90 per cent of cases have been occurring in urban areas. The pandemic is hitting the most vulnerable the hardest, including the 1 billion residents of the world's densely populated informal settlements and slums around the world. Successful examples of containing COVID-19 demonstrate the remarkable resilience and adaptability of urban communities in adjusting to new norms. Cities will emerge from the pandemic, but whether they are prepared for the next crisis will depend on how much they can advance data-driven inclusive and sustainable urban development.

Source: un.org/ecosoc

About China

Urban-rural and regional development in the context of new development pattern

Due to long-standing institutional and structural problems, there are still many aspects of urbanization and urban development in our country that lag behind, while population and economic activities gradually shift from rural areas to urban areas, and from small cities to large cities and the surrounding metropolitan areas. Making for China such a big developing country, the balanced  development of urban and rural areas as well as different regions has become a crucial target. CPC General Secretary Xi Jinping suggests that we need to promote a new pattern of development in which domestic and international cycles reinforce each other, with the domestic cycle as the mainstay. More efficient and more coordinated urban-rural and regional development is not only conducive to the new pattern of double circular development based on the large domestic circulation, but also can promote the external circulation of the economy.

Along with “The integrated development plan for the Yangtze River Delta region”, “The development plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area”, and “Opions of the CPC Central Committee and The State Council on establishing and improving systems, mechanisms and policies for integrated urban and rural development”, the picture of regional coordination and integrated urban-rural development is gradually unfolding, and the Chinese economy is showing cross-linking between East, West, North and South. The sound situation of accelerating growth of multiple driving forces has injected surging and sustained momentum into high-quality economic development.

Sources: gmw.cn, Xinhua.cn, People Think Tank 

●Cases

About the World

One New York 2050: The plan for a strong and just city

New York City is a vibrant and diverse city with a growing and continuing population that attracts people from all over the world. It is expected that by 2050, the population of New York City will increase from 8 million to 9 million, and the population of the New York metropolitan area will increase from 23 million to 26 million. The economy also will continue to grow, thus providing sufficient support for improvements in education, housing and infrastructure.

The growing population has led to urban unaffordability increased; the mismatch between incomes growth and high cost of living may threaten to crush New York's middle class with huge economic risks; The widening gap between rich and poor, and inequalities in health and education resources is prominent (for example, the African-American infant mortality rate is twice the average)  ; The climate crisis, the aftermath of “Hurricane Sandy”, is haunted, while the U.S. decision not to sign “The Paris Agreement”is undoubtedly worse for the long coastline of New York;  For this old developed city, infrastructure renewal pressure comes faster and steeper; At the same time, the government's credibility is declining year by year.

Danger and opportunity coexist. The growth of population and economy is full of hope; the immediate problem is also a serious danger. It is in this context that New York 2050 comes out. One New York 2050 is not a blueprint, but a comprehensive solution to a crisis.

New York mayor Bill de Blasio pointed out that the government is committed to building a more just and progressive city, and its planning is based on environmentally sustainable economic equality and the concept of social justice.  Through the eight aspects of One New York 2050, the city is provided with a solution to the problems, including: a. vibrant democracy; b. inclusive economy; c. vital community; d. healthy life; e. equity and excellence in education; f. pleasant climate; g. efficient travel; h.  Modern infrastructure.

It is hope that every citizen will be brought along on the road of common progress.

This shows that the master plan of urbanization is not a blueprint for urban expansion or a picture of urban beautification, but a comprehensive solution after the analysis of the complex urban system with millions of people.

Sources: fgw.sz.gov.cn, official account of Lanzhongshangxiao 

About China

Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area

Since China's reform and opening up, especially  Hong Kong and Macao's return to the motherland, cooperation among Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao has been continuously deepened and realized. The Gugangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has the basic conditions to develop a vibrant and internationally competitive first-class bay area and world-class city cluster with its remarkable strengthen of economic strength and regional competitiveness. In recent years, cooperation among Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao has achieved notable results in the fields of infrastructure, investment trade, financial services, education, science and technology, leisure and tourism, environmental protection, and community service, and has formed a multi-tiered and all-round cooperation pattern. 

In order to further establish a mutually beneficial relationship in regional cooperation, promote coordinated regional economic development, give new impetus to the development of Hong Kong and Macao, provide support for national supply-side structural reform, the implementation of the innovation-driven development strategy and the building of a new system of an open economy, develop a vibrant and internationally competitive first-class bay area and world-class city cluster, and build a role model of high-quality development, CPC General Secretary Xi Jinping has personally planned to promote the development strategy of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, aiming to build the Greater Bay Area into a green, livable, low-carbon and sustainable world-class city cluster, providing residents with a clean, comfortable, convenient, efficient and people-oriented quality living environment, and creating a quality life circle for living, working and travelling.

By 2035, the Greater Bay Area should become an economic system and mode of development mainly supported by innovation, with its economic and technological strengths vastly increased and its international competitiveness and influence further strengthened; the markets within the Greater Bay Area should basically be highly connected, with very effective and efficient flow of various resources and factors of production; the coordination of regional development should remarkably improve, with the influence on neighboring regions further strengthened; the people should become wealthier; the level of social civility should reach new heights, with cultural soft power demonstrably strengthened, Chinese cultural influence broadened and deepened, and exchange and integration between different cultures further enhanced; the levels of conservation and efficient use of resources should be significantly improved, the ecological environment should be effectively protected, and an international first-class bay area for living, working and travelling should be fully developed.

Sources: rmzxb.com.cn, drc.gd.gov.cn, cnbayarea.org.cn

●Background

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Initiated by the United Nations

On 1 January, 2016, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including 169 targets, of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development — adopted by world leaders in September 2015 at an historic UN Summit — officially came into force. Countries will mobilize efforts to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate change, while ensuring that no one is left behind.