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disP - The Planning Review

Publication Date: 1996

Permanent Link: https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-a-000981948

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ETH Library DISP 151 2 2002 Martina Koll-Schretzenmayr

Eine Reise in das Reich der Mitte

“This is a country where everything is changing be- Sonderwirtschaftszone Shenzen im Margrit Hugentobler, Beisis Jia, Fred fore your eyes, and a visitor can return after a Pearl River Delta, die 2002 mit dem Moavenzadeh und Keisuke Hanaki prä- year’s absence and be surprised at the transformation”. (Logan, 2002: 21) Global 500 Roll of Honour des United sentieren die im Rahmen der Alliance Nations Environment Programme ausge- for Global Sustainability durchgeführte Während der Vorbereitungen für das zeichnet wurde. Ausschlaggebend für Forschungskooperation zwischen der Themenheft Urban and Regional Sus- den Weg Shenzens zur Nachhaltigkeit ETH Zürich, dem MIT und der University tainability in China haben drei Beob- waren die Entscheidung für ein garden of Tokyo, die zum Ziel hat, in Guang- achtungen meine Diskussionen, die ich city Konzept, der Konkurrenzkampf um zhou nachhaltige Entwicklung in den mit westlichen Kolleginnen und Kollegen ausländisches Investitionskapital und Bereichen Transport, Wohnungsbau, führte, die vor Ort in China als Archi- Chinas Agenda 21. Wasserwirtschaft und Nutzungsplanung tekten, Denkmalpfleger und Planer gear- Mark Yaolin Wang untersucht die zu etablieren. beitet haben, wie ein roter Faden durch- Frage, welche Auswirkungen die Libera- Jacques P. Feiner, Diego Salmerón, zogen: Zum Ersten das grosse Erstaunen lisierung des Hukou Systems, mit welcher Ernst Joos und Willy A. Schmid reflektie- über den raschen Wandel in China – in der ländlichen Bevölkerung Ende 2001 ren anhand der Erfahrungen, die im räumlicher, ökonomischer und sozialer eine legale Zuwanderung in Kleinstädte Rahmen der seit 1996 laufenden Pla- Hinsicht. Zum Zweiten die kulturellen ermöglicht wurde, voraussichtlich auf nungs- und Beratungstätigkeit für den Unterschiede und die auf der Sprach- Chinas urbanes System haben wird. Grossraum Kunming gewonnen wur- barriere begründeten Verständigungs- Sung-Cheol Lee und Kark-Bum Lee un- den, über die Möglichkeiten, im Rah- schwierigkeiten. Zum Dritten der Hin- tersuchen die regionale Fragmentierung men einer Städtepartnerschaft Impulse weis auf rasche kollegiale Vertrauensbil- Chinas infolge der ungleichen Vertei- für eine nachhaltige Entwicklung zu in- dung als Basis einer fruchtbaren Zusam- lung ausländischer Investitionen. Das itiieren. menarbeit und eines erfolgreichen Er- sich hauptsächlich auf die östlichen Pro- Lin Wei und Tang Chong geben einen fahrungsaustausches mit den chinesi- vinzen entlang der Küste konzentrie- Überblick über die Erfolgsgeschichte schen Kooperationspartnern. rende Kapital ausländischer Kapitalge- wie auch die noch anstehenden Heraus- In den persönlichen Gesprächen be- ber hat in der Post-Mao-Ära zu erhebli- forderungen der ersten Buslinie in Kun- merkte ich stets die uneingeschränkte chen regionalen Disparitäten geführt. ming mit separater Busspur, die 1999 Faszination für das Land, aber auch für Jeff Kenworthy und Gang Hu analy- anlässlich der in Kunming durchgeführ- die planerischen Herausforderungen sieren Chinas Siedlungs- und Transport- ten Weltgartenausstellung eröffnet wur- vor Ort. Obwohl nie explizit ausgespro- strukturen und kommen zu dem Schluss, de. chen, war unterschwellig immer zu dass China im internationalen Vergleich Werner Stutz hat seit Mitte der spüren, dass die treibende Kraft für derzeit hohe Siedlungsdichten und ei- 1990er-Jahre den Aufbau des Altstadt- langjährige Kooperationen mit chinesi- nen geringen Automobilisierungsgrad schutzes in der Stadt Kunming fachlich schen Partnern ein «Alles ist möglich, aufweist, jedoch in den vergangenen begleitet und unterstützt. Er berichtet das Unerwartete ist das Wahrschein- Jahren enorme Zuwachsraten insbeson- über den Transfer schweizerischer denk- lichste» ist. dere im Mobilisierungsgrad und bei malpflegerischer Arbeitsweisen und In- Mit den Beiträgen in diesem Heft kön- Strassenbauinvestitionen zu verzeich- ventarisierungsmethoden, zugeschnitten nen nur Schlaglichter gesetzt werden – nen hatte. Sie weisen auf die besondere auf die Verhältnisse und Anforderungen zu gross ist das Land, zu vielfältig sind Verantwortung der chinesischen Planer vor Ort in Kunming. die regionalen Verhältnisse, zu rasch ist und Entscheidungsträger hin, die beste- Mit Jacques P. Feiner, Mi Shiwen und der Wandel und zu umfangreich sind henden Qualitäten der chinesischen Willy A. Schmid verlassen wir am Ende die Herausforderungen. Sehr unter- Siedlungsstrukturen zu erhalten und unserer imaginären Reise die Metropo- schiedlich ist bei den einzelnen Beiträ- langfristig zu sichern. len Chinas und statten dem Shaxi Valley gen der Betrachtungsfokus, welcher von Bryn Sadownik und Mark Jaccard dis- in der Provinz Yunnan, der letzten erhal- der Einführung einer Buslinie in Kunming kutieren, wie die Siedlungsform den ten gebliebenen Karawanserei eines bis zur regionalen Verteilung der auslän- Energieverbrauch und den damit ver- Seitenastes der Seidenstrasse, einen Be- dischen Investitionen in China reicht. Die bundenen Schadstoffausstoss beein- such ab. Das entlegene Tal am Fusse unterschiedlichen Brennweiten der Unter- flusst. Sie setzen ein Modell ein, wel- des Himalaya gibt Einblick in die Prob- suchungsoptik, die zur Anwendung kom- ches für China zwei alternative Sied- lematik des ländlichen Chinas. Das men, und die Themenvielfalt, die behan- lungsentwicklungsszenarien gegenüber- 2001 gestartete Shaxi Valley Rehabilita- delt wird – von Altstadtschutz bis Trans- stellt. Neben dem Trendszenario wird tion Project möchte auf der Basis einer port – bieten aber möglicherweise ge- ein Szenario betrachtet, welches auf umfassenden Regionalplanung gezielt rade den besonderen Reiz dieser ima- das Community Energy Management die kulturellen, naturräumlichen und de- ginären Reise in das Reich der Mitte, de- (CEM), das sich unter anderem an Nut- mografischen Potenziale dieses Raumes ren Stationen sich wie folgt gestalten: zungsmischung, hohen Dichten und Ein- für eine nachhaltige Entwicklung nut- Mee Kam Ng gibt einen Überblick satz öffentlichen Verkehrs orientiert, aus- zen. über Nachhaltige Entwicklung in der gerichtet ist. DISP 151 3 2002 Martina Koll-Schretzenmayr

Imaginary Journey through China

“This is a country where everything is changing be- the competition for foreign investment ming metropolitan area since 1996, re- fore your eyes, and a visitor can return after a capital, and China’s Agenda 21. flect on the possibilities of initiating new year’s absence and be surprised at the transformation.” (Logan, 2002: 21) Mark Yaolin Wang investigates what impulses for sustainable development effects will result to China’s urban sys- within the framework of a city partner- During the preparations for this issue tem through the liberalization in late ship. covering “Urban and Regional Sustain- 2001 of the Hukou system to allow rural Lin Wei and Tang Chong provide an ability in China,” three observations inhabitants to migrate to small cities and overview of the success story associated stood out from my discussions with west- towns. with the first center-lane bus line in Kun- ern colleagues who have shared with Sung-Cheol Lee and Kark-Bum Lee ming, while also pointing to the chal- me their experiences in cooperating examine the regional fragmentation of lenges that still lie ahead. with Chinese counterparts in the fields China as a consequence of the uneven Werner Stutz has supported the devel- of architecture, spatial planning, and distribution of foreign investment. The opment of city preservation initiatives in cultural preservation. First among these concentration of foreign capital in the Kunming since the mid-1990s. He re- is the astonishing speed of change in eastern coastal provinces has led to sig- ports on the transfer of Swiss methods China from the spatial, economic, and nificant regional disparities in the post- for the preservation of cultural assets social perspectives. Second, the cultural Mao era. and monuments adapted to the specific differences and the communication diffi- Jeff Kenworthy and Gang Hu analyze local circumstances and challenges culties arising from language barriers. China’s settlement and transportation found in Kunming. Finally, the fact that despite the many structures and come to the conclusion With Jacques P. Feiner, Mi Shiwen, barriers, relationships of trust did de- that China exhibits high settlement con- and Willy A. Schmid, we leave the met- velop leading to successful cooperation centrations and low levels of motoriza- ropolitan regions of China and end our and valuable exchanges of knowledge tion in international comparison, but has journey in the Shaxi Valley of Yunnan and experience. attained tremendous growth in road Province, the last remaining caravan- Throughout the course of my conver- construction investments in the last few serai on an offshoot of the Silk Road. sations, I noticed the uniform fascination years. They refer to the special responsi- The isolated valley at the foot of the Hi- for the country, but also for its specific bility of Chinese planning officials to malaya provides a glimpse into the spatial challenges. Although never ex- preserve the existing qualities of Chi- problems facing rural China. The “Shaxi pressed explicitly, it was evident that co- nese settlement structures over the long Rehabilitation Project,” started in 2001, operation with Chinese partners took term. seeks to use the cultural, natural, and place under the premise that “every- Bryn Sadownik and Mark Jaccard dis- demographic potentials of this region thing is possible, and the unexpected is cuss the ways in which different forms of within the framework of comprehensive the most probable.” The articles in our settlement influence energy consumption regional planning. latest issue can only scratch the surface and the level of polluting emissions. of the many complex challenges – too They make use of a model that presents Translation: Martin Gahbauer, Birmingham. large is the country, too diverse the dif- China with two alternative scenarios for ferent regional circumstances, too rapid settlement development. Next to the Reference the pace of change and the associated trend scenario, the authors point to an- John R. Logan (2002): Three Challenges for challenges. The focus of each of the ar- other scenario based on “Community the Chinese City: Globalization Migration, ticles is also diverse, from the introduc- Energy Management” (CEM), which is and Market Reform. In: John R. Logan (Ed.): tion of a bus line in Kunming to the reoriented toward diversity of use, high The New Chinese City. Globalization and gional distribution of foreign investment. settlement concentrations, and public Market Reform, Oxford. Yet it is exactly the broad spectrum of transport. topics and perspectives that gives our Margrit Hugentobler, Beisis Jia, Fred imaginary journey through China its Moavenzadeh, and Keisuke Hanaki special attraction. present the joint research project car- The stations on our journey are as fol- ried out by the ETH Zurich, MIT, and the lows: University of Tokyo within the framework Mee Kam Ng provides an overview of of the “Alliance for Global Sustainabil- sustainable development in Shenzen’s ity.” The goal of the project is to estab- special economic zone situated on the lish sustainable development in the city Pearl River Delta; in 2002 this zone was of Guangzhou in the areas of transport, granted the “Global 500 Roll of Honor” settlement construction, and water re- awarded by the United Nations Envi- source management. ronment Program. Central to Shenzen’s Jacques P. Feiner, Diego Samerón, path to sustainability were the decision Ernst Joos, and Willy A. Schmid, all ac- taken in favor of a garden city concept, tive as planning consultants in the Kun- DISP 151 4 2002 Jeff Kenworthy, Gang Hu

Transport and Urban Form in Chinese Cities An International Comparative and Policy Perspective with Implications for Sustainable Urban Transport in China

Chinese cities are acknowledged world- China is expected to have 828 million 2. A Comparative Overview of wide as being the leaders in non-mo- city dwellers. If they were to drive as Land-Use and Transport Patterns in torised transport. Many other aspects of much as the average American, “the Chinese Cities carbon emissions from transportation in their transport and urban form are also urban China alone would exceed 1 bil- 2.1 Urban Form and Land-Use Patterns conducive to low levels of automobile de- lion tons, roughly as much as released Before presenting some basic compara- pendence. However, urban China is from all transportation worldwide to- tive land-use data on Chinese cities, it is changing rapidly with very high rates of day” (Worldwatch Institute, 1999). “If necessary to qualify a few issues con- motorisation and a number of policies China attains its dream of a car for cerning how to compare Chinese cities every family, the resulting emissions with their international counterparts. and factors that are pushing their trans- could increase carbon concentrations to port systems towards greater reliance on an extent that would affect the entire 2.2 Some Methodological Issues cars and motor cycles. Development of world and offset emissions reductions A useful way of presenting this discus- quality public transport systems appears achieved in other countries” (Tunali, sion is to consider the fundamental issue not to be keeping pace with the emphasis 1996), and “the implications for global of a city’s urban density. Urban density warming and energy consumption are is one of the most important factors in on private transport. This paper briefly truly harrowing” (Hook and Replogle, determining a city’s level of car use, en- explores how Chinese cities compared on 1996). Hook and Ernst (1999) state ergy use and the viability of public key transport and urban form factors to a that: “Because of China’s immense pop- transport, walking and cycling (New- large sample of other cities from around ulation, small changes in assumptions man and Kenworthy, 1989, 1999). Ur- the world in 1995. It further examines a about China’s motorisation could throw ban density takes for its denominator future global oil demand projections the total built-up land (residential, com- range of important policies and factors and greenhouse gas emissions esti- mercial, and industrial land, etc., plus that are shaping Chinese urban transport mates off by 100%” (p. 7). roads and streets). It excludes rural systems and explores the potential of It would be a disaster, not only for land, forests, large areas of contiguous Chinese cities to embrace the ideal of China itself, but also for the entire undeveloped or vacant land, regional “sustainable urban transport”, as op- world, if China devastates its physical scale open spaces, but not local open and social environments in the way that spaces. Higher urban densities, and the posed to increasing automobile depend- much of the developed world has been mixed land-uses which are associated ence. doing through its extreme dependence with them, shorten the length of trips by on the automobile. The global and local all modes, make walking and cycling concerns that lie behind trends in mo- possible for more trips and create suffi- torisation in China are the motivation cient concentrations of activities for an for this paper. The research presented effective, frequent public transport serv- here therefore attempts to develop a ice (Newman and Kenworthy, 1999; 1. Background deeper insight into the scenarios for Chi- Kenworthy and Laube et al., 1999). With China’s economy booming, a nese urban transport by asking the fol- There are some problems in directly question has arisen about whether hu- lowing key questions: comparing Chinese cities with other in- man life and global sustainability will • What is the current situation in Chi- ternational cities because of the urban suffer severe decline if China, the nese cities compared internationally to form and some unique definitions in the largest country on the earth, were to in- a large sample of other cities, in terms Chinese statistical system, though in the crease its urban automobile ownership of land-use, transport infrastructure, final analysis these problems do not pre- and usage to the current US level (Hook transport patterns, motor vehicle ow- vent worthwhile comparisons with other and Ernst, 1999). A planner at one nership and usage, transport energy cities. In some ways the problems faced large auto company believes that “there consumption and transport externali- are similar to the urban data collection could be 70 million motorcycles, 30 mil- ties? problems in many western and other lion lorries and 100 million cars in • What are the key factors in shaping Asian cities. China by 2015” (Hook and Replogle, Chinese urban transport and land-use, In China, statistical data are collected 1996). “The potential effects of this car and would Chinese cities develop along by administrative units on different lev- explosion – on the quality of human life a path of automobile dependence in a els. By means of administrative division, and the sustainability of all life – are period of rapid economic growth and a typical Chinese city consists of an ur- staggering” (Tunali, 1996). Today, modernisation? ban area and several counties which transportation accounts for 15 to 20% • How would China integrate its urban consist of a small or mid-sized city (or of the annual 6 billion tons of carbon development and transport policies in central towns), tens of towns and exten- emissions from human activities that are shaping sustainable urban transport sive rural areas. The county-level city leading to climate change. By 2030, and land-use? that is actually an economically devel- DISP 151 5 2002

City Estimated population Area of built-up Density in built-up Density in built-up in built-up area 1995 area 1995 area 1990 area 1995 (1,000 persons) (ha) (persons/ha) (persons/ha)

Beijing 6,528 47,700 141 137

Shanghai 7,656 39,000 251 196

Tianjin 4,752 35,900 138 132 oped county is an exception. The nor- Guangzhou 3,083 25,900 157 119 mal statistical representations are there- Hangzhou 1,148 9,600 155 120 fore “Quian Shi” and “Shi Qu” which refer to “City-Wide Area” and “City Ningbo 914 6,200 144 147 Area” respectively. And the “City Area” Average 4,014 27,400 164 146 actually also includes areas of land that are more or less rural in character. This Source: Statistics Bureau of China (1991, 1996), Beijing Statistical Yearbook (1991, 1996), 1991/96 Statistical results in some difficulties for research Yearbooks of Shanghai and international comparisons. Table 1: Urban densities in Chinese cities, Unlike in western cities, suburbs in 1990 and 1995 (persons per ha). Chinese cities are mainly rural in the character of their land-uses, with some highly focussed nodes of urban devel- Urban densities opment scattered throughout the rural (persons/ha) lands. They don’t bear very much rela- Australia/New Zealand cities Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane, Wellington 15 tionship to the urban area, either in their Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New residential patterns or the way they are American cities 15 York, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Washington extended. Therefore they cannot gener- D.C. ally be regarded as parts of the urban Western European cities Graz, Milan, Vienna, Bologna, Brussels, Rome, Co- 55 agglomeration. So both “City-Wide penhagen, Helsinki, Amsterdam, Oslo, Lyon, Nantes, Area” and “City Area” are not ideal sta- Barcelona, Paris, Madrid, Marseilles, Stockholm, Berlin, tistical units, and unfortunately, built-up Bern, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hamburg, Zurich, Dusseldorf, area is not a recognised administrative London, Munich, Manchester, Ruhr, Newcastle, Stuttgart, unit on which basic data are gathered, Glasgow, Athens even though it is unquestionably much Chinese cities Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, 146 better for research. Under these circum- Ningbo stances, sometimes the only way to do High income Asian cities Osaka, Sapporo, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taipe 150 meaningful comparative urban re- Low income Asian cities Manila, Bangkok, Mumbai, Chennai, Kuala Lumpur, 204 search, is through detailed analysis of Jakarta, Seoul, Ho Chi Minh City existing information which permits some The metro regions outside China are from Kenworthy and Laube (2001) reorganisation of data and educated estimates where necessary. [1] Source: Kenworthy and Laube (2001) In summary, although there are partic- Table 2: Comparison of urban densities in ular data specification problems in Chi- global cities, 1995 (persons per ha). nese cities, these are akin to similar problems in other cities and do not prevent a valid attempt at international comparisons. A full discussion of these methodological issues can be found in per ha, with an average of 146 per ha. come Asian cities. It is apparent that the Kenworthy and Laube et al. (1999). This represented an apparent average current urban form and land-use pattern reduction for the six regions of 18 per- in Chinese cities is quite distinct from all 2.3 How do Chinese Cities Compare in sons per ha (11%) from the 1990 aver- western cities. Further discussion of the Land-Use Characteristics? age of 164 persons per ha. These data, unique nature of urban form in Asian By any international standards, Chinese however, need to be considered in light cities can be found in Kenworthy et al. cities, like their other Asian neighbours, of the discussion under Urban Planning (1995). have high urban densities and are char- Law and Regulations later in the paper, acterised by quite intensively mixed which indicates that the real decline in 2.4 Provision for the Automobile land-uses in their built-up areas. Table 1 density between 1990 and 1995 is Another key factor in automobile de- provides the urban densities in 1990 smaller than that shown in table 1. pendence is how well the automobile is and 1995 for six Chinese cities ranging The average urban density of Chinese catered for in basic transport infrastruc- in size from 1 million population up to 7 cities in 1995 was approximately ten ture. million population, while table 2 pro- times the American and Australian- • Roads: The length of road per capita vides an international comparison of ur- New Zealand (ANZ) cities, over 2.5 in Chinese and other cities is summa- ban densities in 1995. The tables show times the western European cities, and a rised in table 3. It shows that the Chi- that urban densities in the Chinese sam- little lower on average than the urban nese cities are extremely low in this in- ple in 1995 ranged from 119 to 196 densities of some wealthy and low indicator compared to western cities, with DISP 151 6 2002

only one-fortieth to one-thirtieth the road provision in Australian and American cities, one-sixth that of European cities, Table 4: Comparison of modal split for all and much lower even than the average trips in global cities, 1995. of other Asian cities. Furthermore, these data are for the “City Area”, as described in the previous section because of the lack of data for the actual built-up 1995 had 17 parking spaces per and 1,110 in low income Asian cities in area. Road length per capita is even 1,000 jobs compared with 555 in the 1995 (Kenworthy and Laube, 2001). more constrained in the built-up area. CBD of US cities, 505 in ANZ cities, As the comparison illustrates, present 261 in W. European cities, 105 in 2.6 Transport patterns road infrastructure in Chinese cities wealthy Asian cities and 127 in low in- • Modal Split does not favour automobile depen- come Asian cities (Kenworthy and Table 4 provides modal split in Chinese, dence. It suggests that congestion will Laube, 2001). Chinese cities are indeed American, ANZ, European, and Asian rise rapidly as motorisation proceeds. not yet built for the automobile, and as cities. The major urban transport modes • Parking: The number of parking the data imply, it would take a total re- in Chinese cities are obviously still bicy- spaces in the centre of Chinese cities construction programme to adapt them cles, walking, and transit. Non-motor- (CBD in western terminology) is a very to the automobile on the scale of US and ised modes account for 65% of total difficult item to obtain because of lack of Australian cities. trips while cars and motorcycles ac- statistics. However, the data we have count for 16%, which is significantly collected demonstrates enough to make 2.5 Automobile ownership and usage lower even than in other Asian cities. a useful comparison. The rate of motorisation in Chinese The other important point about these According to a report of the Transport cities is increasing quite rapidly and this data is the comparatively poor use of Engineering Institute of Beijing’s Traffic fact lies at the heart of this paper. Data transit in Chinese cities. This is pursued Management Bureau, the number of from the Traffic Management Bureau in later in the paper. parking spaces in the Beijing metropoli- Beijing and Hangzhou shows that vehi- • Walking and Cycling tan area in 1995 is 38,671. It is even cle ownership per 1,000 people has Walking and cycling are still the most lower in other Chinese cities. Shanghai risen in Beijing from 23 in 1983 to 93 popular modes in Chinese cities. De- had only 10,468 places in its CBD in in 1994. In Hangzhou over the same spite the fact that in some cities the au- 1996 and Guangzhou 25,061 places period it rose from 15 to 37. In terms of thorities wish to restrict the bicycle, the in its metropolitan area in 1995 (Wang, absolute numbers, cars in Beijing in number of bicycles is still steadily rising 1997; Auto Weekly, 1999; TSSPSB, 1990 numbered 89,373 and in 1994 with population, with little evidence of 1997). The three Chinese cities of there were 259,921, or a threefold in- any significant slowing down, at least Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing in crease. Zhou (1995) discusses in detail not up until 1995 (table 5). It is interest- some of the causes of this rapid rise. ing to note that the level of bicycle own-

Metres per Although these figures show the rate ership in most Chinese cities in the early capita of growth in automobile ownership in 1990s was in excess of typical total mo- Australia/New Zealand cities 8.1 Chinese cities has been fairly high in re- tor vehicle ownership rates in US cities. cent times, ownership and usage are ac- US cities averaged 755 total vehicles American cities 6.5 tually still very low in an international per 1,000 persons in 1990 (Kenworthy Western European cities 3.0 sense. Automobile ownership per and Laube et al., 1999). The rate of bi- High income Asian cities 2.2 1,000 people in Beijing, Shanghai and cycle growth in Chinese cities signifi- Developing Asian cities 0.6 Guangzhou averaged only 26 in 1995 cantly outstripped population growth (Kenworthy and Laube, 2001). This is between 1990 and 1994. Chinese cities 0.4 compared to 587 in American cities, However, Hook and Ernst (1999) re- Beijing 0.3 575 in ANZ cities, 414 in W. European port that in south China, the use of bicy- Shanghai 0.3 cities, 210 in high income Asian cities cles is falling rapidly. For example, they Guangzhou 0.5 and 105 in low income Asian cities in state that in rapidly motorising Gung- 1995 (Kenworthy and Laube, 2001). zhou, bike use dropped from 34% of to- Source: Statistics Bureau of China (1996) Total private motor vehicle (car and mo- tal trips to 24% in one decade. Pen- Note: The reference area and population for Chinese torcycle) kilometres per capita in Bei- dakur (1992) and Smith (1995) discuss cities are ˝City Area˝ as described in the methodology section because of difﬁculty in data availability. Cor- jing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou aver- this issue in more detail. Modal choice rect populations have been used in each case. aged 434 in 1995. This is in contrast to in favour of the bicycle is strongly re- 12,847 in American cities, 7,416 in lated to the trip distance and the physi- Table 3: Comparison of road length per ca- Australian cities, 4,532 in W. European cal condition of users. Bicycles are the pita in global cities, 1995 (metres per capita). cities, 2,292 in high income Asian cities most popular mode between 5 and 30 DISP 151 7 2002

Population Number of bicycles Increase in bicycles 1990 1994 1983 1990 19941983–90 1990–94 Beijing 7,000,000 7,260,000 4,290,000 6,272,568 7,885,188 46% 26% Hangzhou 1,340,000 1,440,000 628,833 834,020 1,272,665 33% 53%

Source: Trafﬁc Management Bureau in Beijing and Hangzhou

Table 5: Number of bicycles in Beijing and Hangzhou, 1983 to 1994. minutes travel distance, which is usual 2.7 Traffic Safety ginning of this paper about how Chi- for most trips in Chinese cities. The cost of road trauma in any society is nese cities compare with their interna- • Public Transport a major issue, both economically and in tional counterparts. It has shown that ur- Although public transport vehicle num- terms of human pain and suffering. ban form and infrastructure provision bers per capita are still low, public Table 6 shows the number of transport are not in favour of heavy automobile transport passenger kilometres per deaths per 100,000 persons in the Chi- use in Chinese cities, and automobile capita are fairly high in Chinese mega- nese cities compared to cities in other ownership and usage were still very low cities. Public transport vehicle numbers regions. in 1995, even compared to other Asian per million population in Beijing, Shang- In an international context, deaths in cities. The next step is to look at how hai, and Guangzhou in 1995 average transport accidents are relatively low in Chinese cities might develop in land-use 711. This is compared to 616 in US Chinese cities. The data seem to suggest and transport terms as they continue to cities, 1,066 in ANZ cities, 1,247 in that traffic deaths tend to follow both the modernise and attempt to accommodate western European cities, 1,195 in high degree of automobile dependence and the automobile. income Asian cities and 2,547 in low the level of development of the traffic income Asian cities. In addition, most of regulatory system. In American cities these cities have a significant higher ca- with their highly developed road sys- pacity rail component as part of their ve- tems and strictly regulated traffic, traffic 3. Nature of the Chinese City: hicle numbers, whereas the Chinese deaths are very high, due it seems to the Accommodating Motorisation cities have almost all buses, apart from world’s highest level of exposure of the As is well established, the automobile in Beijing (Kenworthy and Laube, population to auto traffic (Kenworthy city is not efficient or effective in an en- 2001). and Laube, 1996). vironmental, economic, or social sense Nevertheless, the public transport pas- The situation in Chinese cities can be (Newman and Kenworthy, 1999). How- senger kilometres per capita in Chinese expected to worsen and perhaps begin ever, for China, the issues are particu- cities averaged 1,897 in 1995, which to mirror the picture in the other rapidly larly acute because of the resource was higher than western European cities motorising Asian cities in this sample availability problem, which must in- (1,524). However, it is well below the (15.2 deaths per 100,000 people) as evitably be confronted as automobile high income Asian cities (3,636) and more and more traffic begins to mix with dependence rises. about the same as the other low income the high numbers of pedestrians and cy- Asian cities (1,944). Of course, public clists. This is especially true if little or 3.1 Issue 1: transport use in Chinese cities far ex- nothing is done to slow down this rate of Acquiring the Immense Amount of Land ceeds that in US and ANZ cities (488 motorisation or to plan for effective har- and Capital Investment Required in and 918 respectively). monisation of motorised and non-mo- Infrastructure to Accommodate a Large The average occupancy per public torised transport (Hook and Ernst, Automobile Fleet transport vehicle in Chinese cities is also 1999). China possesses a vast territory, how- very high (53 persons per vehicle on av- ever, it is not rich in arable and inhabit- erage). This is compared to 14, 17, 20, 2.8 Summary able land, especially compared with the 36 and 38 in the US, ANZ, European, The comparisons here have answered huge population. Land is in fact a major high income and low income Asian the first question put forward in the be- limitation for China. Nevertheless, with cities respectively. Average public trans- the economy booming and rapid urban- port system speed is only 14 km/h, isation, even at high urban densities while the other cities range between 18 and with very low automobile depend- City Number of deaths km/h and 33 km/h. in transport per ence, the total amount of agricultural This is consistent with the crowded sit- 100,000 persons land has decreased significantly in the uation in buses in most Chinese cities. Chinese cities 8.6 last two decades. It is reported that over The major result of poor transit provision 200,000 ha, including 100,000 ha of American cities 12.7 is that transit usage is depressed. It sug- arable land, were requisitioned for con- gests that Chinese cities are not well Australia/New Zealand cities 8.6 struction purposes every year (People’s prepared in terms of public transport de- Western European cities 7.1 Daily, 1996). Agricultural land reduc- velopment for the onslaught of the pri- High income Asian cities 8.0 tion is already a serious problem that vate car or motorcycle. Trips will tend to Low income Asian cities 15.2 has occurred even during the non-mo- shift from non-motorised modes to cars torised transport era prior to the current and motorcycles if transit systems are Source: Kenworthy and Laube (2001) motorisation leap. not better developed. This will be dis- Table 6: Comparison of transport deaths in If Chinese cities are to accommodate cussed later in this paper. global cities, 1995. large numbers of automobiles, urban DISP 151 8 2002

density would inevitably have to de- Some questions which must therefore hicles into the public realm, which ad- crease greatly, with a vast demand for logically be asked are: How many versely affects interaction in public land for transport infrastructure includ- roads would have to be widened and space and traditional community in Chi- ing roads, parking, lower density constructed in Beijing and other cities to nese cities. Such issues constitute major houses, auto-orientated retail, commer- accommodate the massive automobile tensions within a society embarking cial and industrial developments. With fleet if it follows the American model? upon a new era of motorisation. motorisation, Chinese cities would be- How much land would be consumed by gin to manifest many of the characteris- transport infrastructure and its by-prod- tics of western style suburbanisation. uct – urban sprawl? Is it economically 3.3 Issue 3: How could Chinese cities accommodate efficient to develop automobile cities in Finding the Oil Needed to Feed Huge this trend? And is it worth doing in an China? Detailed answers to these ques- Numbers of Vehicles, and the Cost of economic sense? tion are beyond the scope of the paper. This in the Next Century The People’s Daily reported on Febru- However, the data and discussion that If the number of private cars increases to ary 6, 1996 that the Beijing Traffic have been presented here suggest that 13.2 million by 2010 as some have pre- Management Bureau has announced the answers to these questions may be dicted, oil consumption would greatly the “Public Notice for Decreasing Traffic painful for those holding a vision of a fu- be increased. China would have to im- Flow”. This notice regulates that jeeps, ture China with similar levels of automo- port a significant amount of oil from the cars and other small passenger vehicles bile ownership and use as those found international market. According to a are permitted to run only on odd or even in the west. study by Campbell and Laherrere dates during weekdays according to the (1995), the global peak in cheap oil last digit of the number plates (Tian and production will occur in the first ten Pan, 1996). The reason behind this is to 3.2 Issue 2: years of this century and production ca- control traffic congestion. Beijing spent The Environmental Impacts of pacity will then begin declining. There- 309 million US dollars on roads (ex- Automobile Dependence after world oil production will halve cluding resumption fees for land and Some research suggests that urban air every 25 years. Some questions, which houses) between 1990 and 1994 (Ken- pollution has exceeded even the na- China will therefore need to consider, worthy and Laube, 2001). Much of the tional standard, sometimes by a few are: Where would China get the vast road surface is now dedicated to motor times, in most major cities in China. quantity of oil required? Is it wise for vehicles, while pedestrian and cycling With better control of coal burning in in- China to compete with other countries facilities are degraded. Hook and Ernst dustry through investment in environ- for oil on the international market at a (1999) reported that the situation is get- mental technologies and by moving fac- time when prices are likely to rise signi- ting worse with segregated bicycle tories away from city centres, the pro- ficantly? How much would it cost? Is it lanes in Beijing torn out for automobiles, portion of vehicle exhaust emissions has worth doing? and other lanes blocked by parked rapidly increased. Hook and Ernst Considering that the per capita use of cars. Bicycle parking space is being re- (1999) report that transport is the fastest private passenger transport energy in located and convenient space is being growing source of urban air pollution Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing, av- converted to car and motorcycle park- and is now responsible for 80% of CO, eraged only 2,498 MJ (megajoules) per ing. This trend is especially evident in a majority of particulates and 40% of person in 1995 compared to 60,034 new commercial and retail develop- NOX in major cities. A study in Beijing MJ in US cities, auto dependence is a ments. Meanwhile, traffic congestion shows that CO concentration exceeds major energy issue for China to con- has increased over 1,000 times a month the national standard by over 100% front. Again, answers to these questions in Beijing in 1995. The average speed and NOX is exceeded by over 50% on are likely to be painful. of motor vehicles on the second and some main roads. A linear pollution belt third ring roads, which are the widest can be observed along these roads, es- ones in the metropolitan area, reduced pecially in the warm seasons. In Beijing 3.4 Issue 4: Urban Liveability from 45 km/h in 1994 to 33 km/h in 79% of HC, 80% of CO and 55% of It might be expected that the process of 1995. And the overall average road NOX are from vehicle exhaust emissions motorisation would begin to have a re- network speed reduced to 12 km/h (Xiang, 1995). latively large impact on the traditional, (Tian and Pan, 1996). Of course, air pollution is only one of dense and compact Chinese city with its As far as land is concerned, parking the environmental impacts associated vibrant urban life and long cultural and is another problem in Chinese cities. It is with burgeoning car ownership and architectural heritage. As in Europe in reported that only 10 to 20% of private use. Others include growing noise, ma- the 1960s, this process of declining cars have their own garages in Chinese jor local traffic impacts in terms of sev- public livability of cities may have some cities. More cars just park in public erance of neighbourhoods, vibration ef- moderating effect on the rush towards open space in residential areas (Zhu, fects on buildings and the sheer space motorisation (e.g. see Kenworthy, 1996). consumption and intrusion of motor ve- 1990). DISP 151 9 2002

4. Policy Implications their density to a medium or significantly data in table 1 show an 11% decline in low level to accommodate cars. Indica- urban densities from 1990 to 1995, 4.1 Land-Use Constraint by the Land tors in tables 7, 8, and 9 explain how based on official data, the following Management Law urban planning is controlled in China in points should be noted. The Land Management Law of the Peo- practical terms. First, the density in the central area of ple’s Republic of China, which was en- Table 7 sets out the standard for per some large cities was too high. Some acted on December 29, 1988, is one of capita “construction land” for different areas in Shanghai were over 500 per- the four national fundamental laws de- grades of urban development. “Con- sons per ha. Some cities such as fined by the Constitution in China, struction land” includes residential land, Ningbo nearly rebuilt the whole central which take precedence over other laws commercial and public facilities land, area to provide better facilities such as and regulations. industrial and manufacturing land, a large city square and central city gar- In chapter 1, clause 1, it states: “Ac- warehouse land, transport and public dens, making the city more liveable. cording to the Constitution, this law is squares land, municipal utilities land, These changes would have caused formulated in order to enhance land green land, and special purpose land. some downward tendency in density in management, safeguard land’s socialist These are defined in the Urban Land- the interests of enhanced liveability as public ownership, protect and exploit Use Classification and Code, and the incomes have risen, although they land resources, reasonably use the Urban Land-Use Classification and Plan- would also have reduced mixed land- land, strictly protect the arable land, ning Land-Use Standard. uses and permitted greater space to be and promote social and economic sus- According to the regulation, the allocated to the car, to the likely detri- tainability.” planned per capita land-use should be ment of walking and cycling. In chapter 1, clause 3, it states: “Very in context with both the present per In addition to this, most Chinese cities esteemed and reasonable use of the capita land-use level and the defined experienced significant development in land, and strict protection of the arable grade of the city with a permitted range the 1990–95 period, as a result of eco- land is one of the fundamental strategies in which adjustments can occur. The nomic liberalisation by Deng Xiaoping of the country. Every level of local gov- grade definition is specified by the Ur- in 1992. This resulted in rapid increases ernment should adopt measurements, in- ban Land-Use Classification and Plan- in the built-up area for many large cities. tegrate planning, tighten management, ning Land-Use Standard (GBJ 137–90), Counter to this, however, the “true” pop- protect and exploit land resources, and which is published in the State Stand- ulation of these cities is not recorded, restrain illegal occupying behaviour on ards of the People’s Republic of China. because many new residents flooding in land.” It defines that new urban development from rural areas as a result of policy lib- The Land Management Law of the should normally be regarded as Grade eralisation, were outside of the registra- People’s Republic of China is designed 3, but in land constrained areas, it tion system. Most cities had 10 to 20% to prevent massive urban sprawl as has should refer to Grade 2. For the capital “floating population”, especially the occurred in America and Australia, and city and some special economic zones, coastal and large cities, and the propor- also restrains excessive use of land for such as Shenzhen and Haikao, Grade 4 tion in 1995 was larger than in 1990. It transport infrastructure. This is one of is recommended. Grade 1 is usually was estimated that Shanghai may have the major differences between Chinese used for old and dense central city ar- had 2 million people excluded from the cities and some other Asian cities. eas where land is extremely limited. statistical system in 1995, more so than Tables 8 and 9 provide more details in 1990. The true density of Shanghai 4.2 Urban Planning Law in four major urban land-use categories: (and other cities) in 1995 is therefore and Regulations residential land, industrial land, roads closer to the density in 1990 than it ap- The Urban Planning Law of the People’s and public squares land, and green pears to be (table 1). Guangzhou and Republic of China, which was enacted land. Table 8 gives the permitted ranges Shenzhen may have the highest percent- on December 26, 1989, is another im- of per capita land-use of the above four age of “floating population” because of portant law that enables urban planning categories. Table 9 defines the permit- economic development and a more to be consistent with the national funda- ted ranges of land-use in each category open population policy. mental laws, and also ensures the im- in percentage terms. In terms of land-use for roads, the plementation of urban planning princi- Following the above regulatory re- Ministry of Construction rules that main ples. There are a few special regula- quirements, the density of urban devel- roads should be between 30 and 60 tions under the urban planning law, opment in China would generally not be metres in width, which consists of motor which are important to understand. allowed to be lower than 100 per- vehicle lanes, non-motor vehicle lanes, As has been explained, Chinese cities sons/ha. Newman and Kenworthy and footpaths. The secondary trunk are traditionally high density and mixed (1999) explain that 100 person per ha routes should be between 24 and 40 in their land-use. There is no evidence to or more is typically associated with metres, including 2 to 4 motor vehicle show that Chinese cities (except in re- “walking cities”, certainly not heavily lanes. The local roads should be be- mote areas) would be allowed to reduce auto-dependent cities. Although, the tween 15 and 20 metres including 2 to DISP 151 10 2002

Present per capita land Planning per capita land use Permitted adjustment use level (m2 /person) range (m2 /person) Grade Per capita land use (m2 /person) ≤ 60.0 1 60.1– 75.0 +0.1–25.0 60.1–75.0 1 60.1– 75.0 >0 2 75.1– 90.0 +0.1–20.0 75.1–90.0 2 75.1– 90.0 no limitation 3 90.1–105.0 +0.1–15.0 Factories of Public Transport in order to 2 75.1– 90.0 –15.0–0 improve the effectiveness of public trans- 90.1–105.0 3 90.1–105.0 no limitation port planning. Subsidies and some pri- 4 105.1–120.0 +0.1–15.0 orities, including supply of fuel and 105.1–120.0 3 90.1–105.0 –20.0–0 other raw materials at lower prices, are 4 105.1–120.0 no limitation given in order to maintain effective tran- >120.0 3 90.1–105.0 <0 sit operations. Ownership reforms are 4 105.1–120.0 <0 also gradually being introduced. More importantly, new urban rail sys- Source: State Standard of People‘s Republic of China. Urban Land-Use Classiﬁ cation and Planning Land-Use Standard, Ministry of Construction, March 1, 1991 tems are about to be launched in the next decades. Although only Beijing, Table 7: Standard of per capita land-use in Tianjin, and Shanghai had built sub- China. ways by 1995, local governments are enthusiastic about rail systems. As of 2000 over twenty cities have lodged 3 motor vehicle lanes (Ministry of Con- Chinese cities, the Chinese government applications for rail projects, though the struction, 1994). The regulations also is currently making efforts to ensure air planning department of the central gov- provide some options for road surface quality improvement and that existing ernment is still cautious in ratification allocation for different users. It seems air quality regulations are more re- because of the huge amount of capital that footpath and non-motor vehicle spected. In practice, air pollution in investment required, as well as the gen- lanes are usually recommended to ac- many Chinese cities is quite serious and eral requirement of national macroeco- count for half the width of main roads. increases in motorisation make it more nomic control. It is said that the central Footpaths are also emphasised in lower difficult to control. However, recently government’s attitude towards rail trans- level roads. there have been some important ad- port can be described as “both fond- vances in control of emissions from vehi- ness and heavy-heartedness” (City Plan- 4.3 Environmental Law and the cles in Beijing, requiring more stringent ning Review, 1995, No. 1, p.25). National Ambient Air Quality Standard emissions controls on cars manufactured Although it is difficult to meet reason- in China (Hook and Ernst, 1999). 4.5 Summary able standards of air quality in some The major evidence concerning the pos- 4.4 Public Transport Policy sibility of future growth in automobile Government reports and documents dependence distinguishes Chinese cities m2 /person show that the Chinese government has from Bangkok and some other develop- Residential Land 18.0–28.0 been trying to promote public transport ing Asian cities, in that China has clear development, though financial difficul- and strict national laws and regulations Industrial Land 10.0–25.0 ties have slowed down the process. A to secure the control of urban develop- Roads and Squares 7.0–15.0 statement issued by the State Council in ment. China’s centrally planned econ- ≥ Green Land 9.0 1985 urges that: “For passenger trans- omy, though relaxing to some extent, Source: State Standard of People‘s Republic of China. port in big cities, the principle of devel- has its advantages in some circum- Urban Land-Use Classiﬁ cation and Planning Land-Use oping track-transport should be adopt- stances, especially in its potential ca- Standard, Ministry of Construction, March 1, 1991 ed. It is difficult to solve the transport pacity to integrate planning of land-use Table 8: Permitted ranges of per capita urban problem by relying on current buses, and transport in cities. land-use (m2/person). trolley buses and limited roads. Rather we must ‘go up towards the sky and down underground’ and realise multi- 5Towards Sustainability of ple-level, multiple-structure ‘stereo- Transport in Chinese Cities

% scopic’ transport systems.” The Ministry of Construction also is- 5.1 Private Cars Residential Land 20–32 sued a Current Industry Policy for Carry- Although the major urban policies in Industrial Land 15–25 ing Out Of Urban Transport (CIPCOUT) China intend to maintain high density Roads and Squares 8–15 in 1990, following the above docu- and mixed land-use, and to encourage Green Land 8–15 ment. The CIPCOUT further emphasises walking, cycling, and public transport, Source: State Standard of People‘s Republic of China. the importance of urban public transport as in many other places, a variety of Urban Land-Use Classiﬁ cation and Planning Land-Use planning, and requires that transit be in- policy conflicts always exist. Integrated Standard, Ministry of Construction, March 1, 1991 tegrated into urban planning. The Min- transport planning and urban manage- Table 9: Permitted ranges in the percentage of istry of Construction then formulated De- ment are evolving in China, as they are urban land allocated for different uses (%). sign Regulations for Stops, Stations and in the west. DISP 151 11 2002

It is not hard to understand a govern- in China. Nevertheless, the automobile ous economic era, make non-motorised ment department’s position, which is re- industry policy has become rather less modes particularly convenient in Chi- sponsible, for example, for the national prominent since it was released, with nese cities. Home and work in these en- machinery industry, wanting to promote pressure from national and international vironments are often tightly linked. and protect a national automobile in- organisations. The Far Eastern Eco- As mentioned previously, modal dustry. A casual glance to the east re- nomic Review reported that China had: choice in favour of the bicycle in Chi- veals some of the economic successes “ceased calling its car industry a ‘pillar’ nese cities is strongly related to trip dis- which can flow from a healthy automo- of the economy. The move came during tance and the physical condition of bile industry. an annual four-day economic plenum at- users. Bicycles are an ideal mode for However, the national Automobile In- tended by the top leadership […]. travel between 5 and 30 minutes. Be- dustry Policy, which was propounded Sources say plenum participants al- cause of high density and compact ur- by the former Ministry of Machinery In- lowed the car industry’s status to crum- ban forms, the sizes of most Chinese dustry, encountered resistance from ble after it became obvious that the goal cities are within these travel time some local governments, urban plan- of an affordable car for all families ranges. ners, researchers, and other depart- would mean national gridlock” (TFEER, Other reasons for the popularity of bi- ments once it was released via the me- 1996). cycles in Chinese cities are the poor pro- dia. It was formally reviewed in a sym- It can be said that the car in itself is vision of public transport and the low posium organised by the Urban Sci- not a devil, it is a convenient means of cost of bicycle operation. As discussed ences Association of China on March private transport when used appropria- previously, public transport is over- 17, 1995. tely. The problem for China, and indeed crowded especially in rush hours. It is Liu Jun, the director of the Department all other nations, is how to deal with the reported that 52% of bus ridership in of Motor Vehicle Industry in the Ministry issues raised by mass car ownership, Chinese cities is in peak hours (6:30 to of Machinery Industry, addressed the and increasing dependence on the auto- 8:30 and 16:30 to 18:30). Passenger initial thinking of the document. She mobile to the detriment of other modes. boardings on buses sometimes reach 13 said that automobile industry develop- A proper balance of modes must be found people per square metre in peak hours ment is an inevitable result of economic in all cities to ensure sustainability and (Wang, 1995). This inevitably makes growth, which has been proven from the to protect liveability. It is particularly im- cycling the favourite mode for commut- experiences of a number of other coun- portant for the Chinese government to ing. The government subsidised bicycle tries in the world. She also asserted that integrate the various economic and commuters in the 1970s and 1980s the national economy is under pressure planning policies towards the automo- when oil supply was constrained in the to choose appropriate “pillar” indus- bile at an early stage. This has been the country. Even at present, bicycle costs tries. She quoted the case of Japan to basis of Singapore’s success at control- are still lower than any other mechani- explain that a “large population and ling car ownership and use to compara- cal modes. The price of a typical new lack of land” is not a limitation for “Pri- tively low levels while still advancing bicycle is around US$50, half of an av- vate Car Entering Family”. Meanwhile, economically. erage month’s salary, with up to ten it is viewed as time to foster a national A potential major problem that China years’ life. It is also easy to maintain industry to compete with foreign compa- will face in this regard is the recent and to park. If door-to-door time is con- nies entering the potentially vast Chi- World Trade Organization agreement sidered, the bicycle is usually faster than nese market. Liu’s opinion expresses the (November 1999). Under this agree- buses when making up to a 5 kilometre perceived economic and political reali- ment, China has been effectively forced trip. Cycling, as a convenient and ties behind the document. by western nations to accept overseas healthy mode of transport, is still likely Following Liu’s speech, some re- non-bank lending institutions into the to be extensively used in the future. On searchers questioned how Chinese country with the express purpose of pro- the other hand, the bicycle is inconven- cities could accommodate so many au- viding access to credit for motor vehicle ient on rainy or windy days, and is apt tomobiles when present urban transport purchases (The Chinese Herald, Novem- to be stolen, so that there is a need for issues are already serious. Zhao Jian- ber 22, 1999, p. 5). In this sense it is other options at certain times. ing, a deputy director of the Department somewhat ironical for western nations to Integrating cycling and public trans- of Urban Construction in the Ministry of express grave concerns about motorisa- port is a feasible and effective strategy. Construction, addressed the limitations tion in China, and at the same time be Both these modes have their unique of automobile development in Chinese facilitating changes that will make this strengths and weaknesses. Together cities. His speech represented the views more likely to happen. they can or could offer competitive per- of most planners, as well as the Ministry formance over the private car for most of Construction. 5.2 Walking and Cycling trips. Better facilities such as bicycle- It is obvious that opinions over the au- High density and mixed land-use, espe- transit exchange hubs around transport tomobile are still not consistent, even cially with a high degree of “work unit” stations in association with commercial among central government departments provided houses, arising from the previ- services could attract more people to DISP 151 12 2002

Number of Income Costs (million CHN$) (CHN$/1,000 km) Buses/ Staff Staff Ticket Government Annual Fuel Cost Trolley per Bus Income Subsidy Cost (estimated) Buses (average)

Beijing 5,378 58,410 11 362.60 212.10 1661 550 Shanghai 6,562 86,325 13 611.30 187.00 1750 580 transit, convert long-distance bicycle Hangzhou 779 7,648 10 47.85 13.06 1565 570 commuters, improve transport effi- Tianjin 2,063 23,193 11 85.00 61.00 1326 550 ciency, and relieve road traffic pressure. Shengyang 1,261 9,485 8 38.50 17.90 1192 600 On the negative side recent main Wuhan 1,523 20,092 13 112.90 21.60 1205 600 road development in major Chinese cities is focussed on building overpasses Ningbo 207 1,983 10 14.84 2.48 1083 490 for pedestrians and cyclists. This results Average 2,539 29,591 12 – – 1397 563 in more difficulties, especially for children and elderly people, and also cre- Source: Public Transport Association of China (1992) ates visual intrusion. There seems to be Table 10: Staff numbers and operational costs little doubt that Chinese cities, which in bus companies in Chinese cities (1991). have been shaped by non-motorised transport, will need to enact policies that protect the important role of these modes if they are to avoid major future 12, compared to 2 to 4 in developed Chinese cities, automobiles mean a problems. cities (APTA, 1991). It is suggested that whole new way of life for the residents savings from the large amount of salary of the world’s most populous country, of- 5.3 Public Transport spending could help to finance the vehi- fering levels of personal mobility previ- High densities create sufficient concen- cle fleet update and expansion in Chi- ously unthinkable. For global car manu- trations of activities for an effective, fre- nese cities. facturers, China offers one of the quent public transport service (Newman The fifth and final issue is to increase biggest markets in the world. The bene- and Kenworthy, 1996). Despite this pos- ticket prices. Chinese bus tickets are fits will, however, exact a toll on the ur- itive land-use framework in Chinese perhaps the cheapest in the world. The ban environment and the quality of pub- cities, providing better public transport average rate is less than US 0.5 cents lic spaces and human interaction in Chi- is actually a key issue in Chinese urban per passenger km, compared to US 1.7 nese cities, as the automobile has in transport. An integrated transit system cents in Manila and US 6 to 9 cents in countless other cities. Accommodating could decrease cases of very heavy bi- Australia, America and Europe (Ken- the automobile will also have big im- cycle traffic, reduce private transport, worthy et al., 1997). The main reason pacts on China’s land supply for agri- and therefore increase road efficiency. behind the low price is not the low qual- culture and on its economy through a In order to realise the goal of better tran- ity of service provision but political un- whole range of new costs. For the sit systems, some issues need to be re- willingness to do something that is likely global environment, China’s potential viewed. to be unpopular. demand for oil and its rising greenhouse Firstly, the bus fleet could be relatively Xiamen’s success demonstrates that contribution are major uncertainties. easily increased in the early stages of transit can be operated very well in Chi- Chinese cities need, however, to be public transport development when high nese cities. In this medium size city, the understood in an international context capital investment for rail systems is still bus fleet was doubled, bus lines in- before the sceptre of unbridled automo- difficult. Limited bus capacity is one of creased from 8 to 28, passenger board- bile dependence, as exhibited in the the reasons for poor service provision. ings increased from 70 million to 170 US, is accepted uncritically. When a de- Secondly, bus priority should be given. million, revenue increased from CHN$ tailed analysis of Chinese cities is car- This priority includes specified bus lanes 1.25 million to $6.08 million, and all ried out the data reveal urban environ- and bus activated traffic lights. It is com- this happened in three years without ments of very high density and mixed- mon in Chinese cities to see buses any subsidies from the government (Zi use urban forms. It also reveals levels of caught in congestion and many people and Gong, 1996). car ownership and use that were in waiting at stops. With priority, buses In the context of the built form of Chi- 1995 very low by world standards, can run faster and more efficiently, nese cities, it seems imperative that though with evidence that they are in- which makes them more reliable and there be continuing improvements to creasing rapidly, with very little physical therefore more attractive. public transport, especially the eventual or economic constraints being imposed Thirdly, it is important to integrate development of good urban rail sys- on this process. Non-motorised trans- public transport with other transport tems. port was still very strong in 1995, modes, as described above. This will although space for pedestrian and bicycle low a greater variety of connections to movement is under enormous pressure, be made and greater flexibility for the 6. Conclusion especially from political leaders in cities non-car user. The growing trend towards motorisation who see the bicycle as a symbol of The fourth issue is to reduce the num- in Chinese cities presents a number of backwardness. Public transport usage ber of staff and to make transit systems important opportunities and challenges, in 1995, by international standards, more cost efficient. Table 10 shows the both for the cities themselves and poten- was still high, although this predomi- average number of staff for every bus is tially for the global environment. For nantly consists of captive riders, not DISP 151 13 2002

choice riders. Such captive riders will all flourish safely and contribute to access, sis are similar to those in other cities. For ex- too readily switch to motor cycles and mobility, energy savings, air pollution ample, although the US Census has a report- cars as their growing incomes allow and noise reductions, and healthy ur- ing category called Urbanized Areas and publishes a lot of data on this, much essential them to escape the crowded conditions ban community. This will mean resisting transport data do not relate readily to this, and slow and unreliable services of pub- the removal of generous bicycle lanes and one has to accept data for the Counties lic transport systems based mainly on and footpaths for parking and road within which the urbanised areas fall as be- buses. Chinese public transport systems widening. ing reasonably representative. In Australia, are significantly constrained in their Pressures to enact policies in favour of the cities are specified as “metropolitan sta- fleet capacity and service levels and do strict, coordinated land-use controls for tistical divisions” and include a lot of non-ur- not have a high proportion of services new development, investment and plan- ban land. Urbanised land area is not readily provided on reserved rights-of-way (i.e. ning priorities towards public transport available and there is virtually no data at all dedicated busways and rail systems). and non-motorised transport properly in- published on the basis of actual urbanised Analysis of the urban planning policy tegrated with urban development, and area. Urbanised land area must be gleaned context in China does reveal a strong preservation of traditional high density, from the planning authority’s GIS operators in each city. In Europe it is easier to specify planning tradition, under a centrally mixed land-use areas, are likely to en- the urbanised land area within different met- planned economy. However, economic counter obstacles. They will have to be ropolitan regions because there is nearly al- liberalisation is placing enormous pres- balanced or harmonised with China’s ways a good land-use inventory available. sure on the land-use controls previously apparent desire to have a strong auto- However, most data refer to the whole metro- exerted by the planning system and mobile industry, WTO efforts to ensure politan region and it is virtually impossible, these controls are not very well-coordi- that credit is freely available in China to for example, to get vehicle registrations or nated with transport. Much new devel- purchase cars and the multiple influ- road length or any other transport item just opment will require significant use of ences of overseas car manufacturers for the urbanised component of the region. motor cycles, private cars and taxis, eager to claim a stake in the Chinese rather than public transport systems. automobile market. It is still an open question if the Chi- Overall, it remains a significant chal- nese planning tradition will be strong lenge for Chinese planners and deci- References enough to prevent or reverse severe sion-makers to ensure that the many pos- negative impacts of motorisation, which itive land-use and transport qualities of APTA (1991): Transit operating and financial are already beginning to be quite evi- Chinese cities are protected against the statistics. American Public Transit Associa- dent throughout many Chinese urban excesses of automobile dependence, tion, Washington DC. centres. Critical to the future will be the while still reaping the full benefits of AUTO WEEKLY (1999): August 27, 1999, institutional capacity and willingness of rapid economic growth. The interna- p. 6. China’s planners and decision-makers tional data comparisons of urban trans- BTMB (1997): Beijing Traffic Management to control the use of land in ways they port also show, however, that Chinese Bureau Vehicle Registrations. have done in the past and to better link cities are still amongst the least auto- CAMPBELL, C.J. and LAHERRE, J.H. (1995): urban development with improved pub- dependent in the world. It is western The world’s oil supply 1930–2050. ISTP public transport systems. In this respect cities, especially those in the United lication summarising a three volume report there will also be a need to balance in- States, who have the biggest potential by Petroconsultants. vestment in new high capacity road in- to reduce their already extraordinary HOOK, W. and ERNST, J. (1999): Bicycle frastructure with investment in improved levels of automobile dependence and Use Plunges: The Struggle for Sustainability bus systems and new rail systems, or global resource consumption. Unless in China’s Cities, Sustainable Transport 10, even to prioritise public transport sys- this point is recognised, studies and con- 6–7, pp. 18–19. tems above road investment. According cerns about motorisation in China, may HOOK, W. and REPLOGLE, M. (1996): Mo- to 1995 data in Kenworthy and Laube remain somewhat distorted. torisation and non-motorised transport in (2001), Chinese cities are second only Asia. Land Use Policy, 13 (1), pp. 69–84. to North American and Australian cities KENWORTHY, J. (1990): Don’t shoot me, in the ratio of road investment to public I’m only the transport planner (apologies to transport investment. An average of Acknowledgement/Note Elton John). In: Newman, P., Kenworthy, J. twice as much was spent on roads than and Lyons, T. (1990) Transport Energy Con- A special debt of gratitude is owed to Dr. Fe- on public transport over a 5-year period servation Policies for Australian Cities: Strate- lix Laube formerly of ISTP, now SBB in Bern, from 1991 to 1995, so the pendulum gies for Reducing Automobile Dependence. for collecting the major part of the compara- ISTP, Murdoch University (final report on Na- has some way to swing back. Further- tive data on non-Chinese cities in this paper. more, it will also be essential to have tional Energy Research, Development and Demonstration Council project No 1050). strong space sharing policies that allow [1] Though the Chinese system is somewhat non-motorised modes to dwell alongside unique, the problems faced here with regard KENWORTHY, J. (1995): Automobile de- cars in a way that they can continue to to specifying data on an urbanised area ba- pendence in Bangkok: An international com- DISP 151 14 2002

parison with implications for planning poli- SMITH, M. (1995): The changing role of cy- Prof. Dr. Jeff Kenworthy cies. World Transport Policy and Practice, 1 cling within Chinese transport policy. World Institute for Sustainability and Technology (3), pp. 31–41. Transport Policy and Practice, 1 (3), pp. Policy 42–46. Murdoch University KENWORTHY, J.R. and LAUBE, F.B (1996): Murdoch WA 6150 Automobile dependence in cities: An interna- STATISTICS BUREAU OF CHINA (1996): Ur- Australia tional comparison of urban transport and ban Statistical Yearbook of China, 1996. [email protected] land use patterns with implications for sus- Statistics Press of China, Beijing. tainability. Environmental Impact Assessment STATISTICS BUREAU OF GUANGZHOU Gang Hu Review, Special Issue: Managing Urban Sus- (1996): Guangzhou Statistical Yearbook, Institute for Sustainability and Technology tainability 16 (4–6), pp. 279–308. 1996. Statistics Bureau of Guangzhou, Bei- Policy KENWORTHY, J.R. and LAUBE, F.B. with jing. Murdoch University Newman, P., Barter, P., Raad, T., Poboon, C. TFEER (1996): The Far Eastern Economic Re- Murdoch WA 6150 and Guia, B. (Jr.) (1999): An International view, December 19, 1996. Australia Sourcebook of Automobile Dependence in [email protected] Cities 1960–1990, University Press of Col- TIAN, J.R. and PAN, Y. (1996): Public Dis- orado, Boulder. cuss Single and Even Dates, People’s Daily, April 16, p. 10. KENWORTHY, J. and LAUBE, F.B. (2001): The Millennium Cities Database for Sustain- TSSPSB (1997): 1996 Shanghai Road Traffic able Transport. International Union (Associa- Management Fundamental Data Statistical tion) of Public Transport, Brussels, Belgium Material, Transport Sector of Shanghai Pub- and ISTP, Perth, Western Australia (CD-ROM lic Security Bureau, p. 36. publication). TUNALI, O. (1996): Quest is on to beat traf- KENWORTHY, J.R., LAUBE, F.B., NEW- fic logjam. The West Australian, Earth 2000, MAN, P.W.G. and BARTER, P.A. (1997): In- March 18, pp. 4/5. dicators of Transport Efficiency in 37 Global MINISTRY OF CONSTRUCTION (1994): Ur- Cities. A report for the World Bank. Institute ban Road Planning and Design Regulation. for Science and Technology Policy, Murdoch Ministry of Construction, Beijing. University. WANG, G.T. (1995): Effective Path -- Prior KENWORTHY, J.R., NEWMAN, P.W.G., Development of Public Transport, City Plan- BARTER, P. and POBOON, C. (1995): Is In- ning Review, 1, 7–10. creasing Automobile Dependence Inevitable WANG, J.X. (1997): Parking Issues and in Booming Economies?: Asian Cities in an Strategy in Chinese Mega-cities, unpublished International Context. IATSS Research, 19 paper. (2), pp. 58–67. WORLDWATCH INSTITUTE (1999): State of NEWMAN, P.W.G. and KENWORTHY, J.R. the World, 1999, W.W. Norton and Com- (1989): Cities and Automobile Dependence: pany, Washington DC. An International Sourcebook. Gower, Alder- shot, England. XIANG, B.Q. (1995): Adopt practical measures to improve air quality in Beijing. Beijing NEWMAN, P.W.G. and KENWORTHY, J.R. City Planning and Construction Review 34, (1996): The land use-transport connection: pp. 35–38. An Overview. Land Use Policy, 13, (1), pp. 1–22. ZHOU, G.S. (1995): Causes, Trends and Suggestions on Transport Problems in Current NEWMAN, P.W.G. and KENWORTHY, J.R Chinese Metropolis. China Urban Transport (1999): Sustainability and Cities: Overcom- Symposium, Beijing, November 8–10. ing Automobile Dependence, Island Press, Washington DC. ZHU, J.H. (1996): Parking Place! Parking Place! Parking Place!, People’s Daily, PEOPLE’S DAILY (1996): The arable land 9 April, p. 10. used for construction purposes was reduced 20% last year, People’s Daily, April 11, ZI, Z.P. and GONG, J.X. (1996): Modern 1996. city: Public transport is a big problem. Peo- ple’s Daily, June 19. PENDAKUR, V.S. (1992): Urban Transporta- tion in China: Trends and Issues. Transporta- tion Research Record 1372, 3–10. PUBLIC TRANSPORT ASSOCIATION OF CHINA (1992): Chinese Cities Public Trans- port Year Book, 1990 to 1991. Public Trans- port Association of China, Beijing. DISP 151 15 2002 Bryn Sadownik, Mark Jaccard

Shaping Sustainable Energy Use in Chinese Cities The Relevance of Community Energy Management

A significant share of future urban en- on energy efficiency and the type of en- text, where the nature of energy use and ergy consumption is predetermined when ergy supplied: for instance, cities that urban spatial form are considerably dif- land-use and urban form are designated. more closely integrate residential and ferent. Per capita energy consumption is commercial activities in higher densities considerably lower, but is on the rise. Community Energy Management (CEM) is and support extensive community en- Residential and commercial energy uses a sustainable energy strategy which ergy supply systems and public transit are dominated by dispersed coal burn- looks at how shaping the built environ- infrastructure can use considerably less ing, which is gradually declining in ment and designing urban services in energy for transportation, heating, favour of coal gas and in some cases consideration of energy production, dis- cooking and other uses. Concerted ef- natural gas. Although this substitution forts to promote urban growth in this di- helps reduce cooking and heating emis- tribution and use could affect both the rection are known as Community En- sions, urban areas are faced with grow- long term demand for energy and the ergy Management (CEM), which has re- ing exhaust from increased numbers of type of energy supplied. This energy pol- cently gained some popularity in North cars, trucks and buses. Residences are icy perspective is particularly relevant to America as urban areas come to terms becoming less spatially linked with the China as that country is experiencing with the environmental impacts of fifty workplace, and outlying urban areas years of disconnected and functionally are often characterised by rapid-paced rapid urbanisation and significant urban segregated urban sprawl. and piecemeal development. Cities are air quality issues. This policy perspective may be partic- also starting to develop specialised A spreadsheet model is used to evaluate ularly relevant to China. Chinese cities neighbourhoods, such as downtown re- aggregate energy-related emissions in make up 16 of the world’s top 20 pol- tail and business centres, residential dis- the year 2015 from two alternative sce- luted cities, and almost half of Chinese tricts and targeted development zones, cities monitored are unsafe according resembling increasingly what is seen in narios of urban growth throughout to the Chinese government’s Air Quality the West (Gaubatz, 1995). [1] China. The model focuses on how energy Index (Stockholm Environment Institute, CEM strategies that may be appropri- demand, residential energy technology 2002). Cities are also growing at an as- ate for reducing the long-term environ- penetration and transportation mode tounding rate: between 1980 and mental impacts of energy use include choices are affected by factors of density 1999, the urban population more than those directed at land-use, energy use, doubled (World Bank, 2002). More and infrastructure provision. Efforts and mix of use in neighbourhood devel- than one half of all the urban structure in should be made to encourage greater opment. Results from this exercise sug- China, measured in terms of square me- mixed land-use, density and transit-ori- gest that China can achieve urban resi- tres, is estimated to have been added ented design in suburban develop- dential and transportation emission re- during the 1980’s alone (World Bank, ments, while maintaining mixed land- 1993). Influencing the long-term sustain- use in central areas. Activity centres and ductions of approximately 14% for CO2, ability of on-going urban development local neighbourhood services need to 10% for SO , 40% for NO and 14% for 2 X could have profound implications on fu- be included with outward extensions of particulate emissions in 2015 by adopt- ture urban energy use. the city. It is also critical to have suffi- ing certain aspects of CEM. Issues around In this study we explore the benefits cient densities and co-ordinated land- the implementation of CEM are also ad- and viability of a CEM approach in Chi- use that make the provision of district nese urban areas, and in particular energy, gas infrastructure and rapid dressed in this study by examining key three questions. First, what strategies in transit most economical. While China institutional and policy issues involved in land-use planning, transportation man- has encouraged the development of dis- land-use planning, site and building de- agement, site and building design and trict energy systems in the past, their fur- sign, alternative energy supply and energy supply would favourably influ- ther provision is critical, particularly transportation management. Recommen- ence the long-term energy sustainability larger-scale, co-generated systems. Dis- of Chinese urban areas? Second, how trict energy could be made more eco- dations and implementation strategies would aggregate energy-related air nomical too by supplying hot water to are suggested. emissions differ in alternative scenarios public bath houses and by providing of future Chinese urban development? both district cooling and heating. [2] At Third, how could CEM be implemented the same time, a greater diversity of en- given present institutional and economic ergy sources should be encouraged, 1 Introduction structures? such as gas (coal and other), liquefied A significant share of future urban en- petroleum gas, solar, wind and waste ergy consumption is predetermined heat utilisation from industrial facilities. when land-use and urban form are des- 2 CEM Strategies for China In addition to guiding energy infrastruc- ignated. Patterns of urban form and in- CEM studies have been primarily under- ture investments towards sustainable frastructure can have a significant effect taken in an industrialised country con- ends, transportation infrastructure DISP 151 16 2002

Area Strategies

Land-Use Land-use planning control resulting in more coordinated development. Planning A tendency towards mixed land- use and the maintenance of dispersed business centres. A tendency towards maintaining a relatively high density, but not to the detriment of local environmental quality.

Transportation A greater emphasis on public transportation development. should be planned to maintain bicycle Management transportation and investments need to The facilitation of bicycle and pedestrian transportation. be made to improve the quality of pub- The implementation of transportation management strategies to inﬂ uence lic transportation, which has shown automobile use. signs of decline. [3] The development of employer sponsored commuting services and other high occupancy vehicle travel.

3 Measuring the Environmental Site and Building to maximise the shape coefficient. Benefits of CEM Building Design Ensuring that buildings are built so that they can be easily and economically A spreadsheet model is used to broadly retrofi tted for district heating and/or cooling. estimate the aggregate energy-related Energy Supply The replacement of decentralised and uncontrolled coal combustion in indivi- environmental effects of alternative sce- and Delivery dual apartment blocks and dwellings. narios of future Chinese urban develop- Systems ment and residential energy planning. Encouraging the interaction of industrial energy provision with residential Two alternative scenarios of urban de- uses. velopment in the year 2015 are evalu- A faster introduction of new fuels and technologies (such as district cooling, ated. The first scenario, Development of waste heat) and increased gas penetration for cooking and heating. Current Trends (DCT) outlines a future which reflects the trends which have oc- Table 1: CEM scenario. curred since China began its pattern of rapid economic growth, and the exam- Develop- Defi nition Example ples of newly industrialised countries. ment Class The second scenario, Community En- ergy Management (CEM) incorporates L1 Low rise, mixed use 1 to 3 stories – mainly old pre-1950s buildings a number of CEM strategies into future L2 Low rise, non-mixed use 1 to 3 stories – new villas, exclusive suburbs urban development. The CEM strategies M1 Medium rise, mixed use 4 to 10 stories – mainly 1950s–1980s development, are discussed in more detail in table 1. and some new development Environmental effects addressed in M2 Medium rise, non-mixed use 4 to 10 stories – mainly new, >1980s development in this study are limited to present and fu- rapidly changing cities, as well as older development ture atmospheric air emissions – CO2, in areas of low ˝non-productive˝ investment such as NOX, SO2 and particulate emissions, satellite cities which emanate from residential and ur- H1 High rise, mixed use >11 stories –- mainly new development which ban transportation energy sources. The maintains mixed neighbourhood exercise also limits energy end uses to H2 High rise, non-mixed use >11 stories –- new development in rapidly changing those uses which are influenced by CEM urban areas strategies – more specifically, those uses affected by factors of density, mix of use Table 2: Description of development classes. in neighbourhood development, and policies which influence the level of development control, enforcement of building codes and new technology penetra- each development class (Development the mix of land-use in Chinese communi- tion. Class Emission Rates). ties, based on urban spatial and urban Each step is developed in greater de- form patterns discussed in the literature 3.1 Methodology tail below: (Gaubatz, 1995; Feng Liu, 1993; The methodology used to evaluate the • Development Classes World Bank, 1993). future scenarios described above con- In each future scenario, the projected ur- • Development Class Emission Rates sists of dividing the present and future ban population is divided between dif- Total per capita emissions for each de- urban population of China into Devel- ferent types of development classes. velopment class are determined as fol- opment Classes – groupings which char- These are described in table 2. The type lows. Energy end use categories and acterize different residential building of development class guides the type of technologies (or modes) that meet these patterns (i.e. mix of use, type of build- end use technologies that are adopted energy needs are described (table 3). ing) – for both the CEM and DCT sce- and the level of energy consumption, Emission rates for CO2, NOX, SO2 and nario. Total emissions for each scenario which in turn impacts the level of air particulates (t/GJ) are determined for are determined by multiplying the popu- emissions. Specific development classes each technology. For the present and for lation in each respective development have been advanced which charac- the competing future scenarios (table 1), class by the per capita emissions for terise the nature of building types and technology market shares are described DISP 151 17 2002

End-use Technologies/Modes

Space Heating coal stoves, central heating (coal), district heating (coal), district heating co-generation (coal), electric heaters and gas (coal gas & natural gas)

Space Cooling individual air conditioning, central air conditioning, and district cooling (co- generation)

Cooking coal, piped gas, liqueﬁ ed petroleum gas (LPG)

Transportation transit, high occupancy vehicles (paratransit), pedestrian, cycling, motorcycle, formation found in published refereed automobile studies in this subject area. Official Chi- Note: Although electric fans are currently the dominant form of cooling, they are not included because they are nese data are used in some cases where not considered to be equivalent to air conditioning as an end-use. internationally verified data were not Table 3: Energy end-use categories and tech- available. In some instances, we have nologies considered in modelling exercise. made quantitative interpretations of qualitative trends, particularly in the case of land-use characterisation where the availability of hard data is limited. Parameter Source Key data sources are described in table Population Base Population Data -- China Statistical Yearbook (1992) 4. Population Projections -- United Nations (1995) 3.3 Results of Model Run Residential Energy Energy Shares, Energy Consumption -- Feng Lui (1993), Qiu Daxiong The results broadly suggest that CEM Use et al. (1994) strategies may bring about significant Energy Efﬁ ciency -- Fuqiang Yang (1997), Peters (1997) reductions in air emissions, particularly Urban Land-Use Housing Stock Projections -- Siwei Lang and Fan Youchen (1990) those affecting local air quality, as Chi- Current Land-Use Trends -- Leaf (1995), Gaubatz (1995) nese urban areas become more and Existing Buildings Structure Characterisations – Lang Siwei et al. (1992). more motorised. Impacts are shown by New Building Construction -- Treister (1987) emission type in fig. 1 to 4. Contribu- tions of each end use to total emissions Transportation Projected Vehicle Growth – Stares and Liu Zhi (1996) are also shown to give a sense of the Mode Shares -- Qing Shen (1997) growth of each end use, and to show Rate of Vehicle Possession – China Statistical Yearbook (1992) what end uses are contributing most to Land-Use Energy Transportation -- Dunphy and Fisher (1996), California Energy Commission reductions in emissions. CO2 savings Relationships (1993) are 14.4% between the CEM and the Building Heating -- Keyes (1976) cited in Owens (1986) DCT future scenarios. CEM measures have an equally significant effect on Table 4: Key data sources for modelling exer- particulate emissions (14.0% savings), cise. a major health concern, and an even stronger effect on NOX emissions which indicate the relative technology In order to reflect regional and eco- (40.4% savings). SO2 emissions are rel- penetration in each development class nomic differences in energy use and atively less affected (9.7% savings). The for each end use. Overall emission rates supply, the following distinctions were effects of CEM in this modelling exercise (t/GJ) are determined for each develop- integrated into the above modelling are midterm. Given the even longer ment class (Development Class Emission steps: city size, GNP and climate. Cli- lifespan of infrastructure, the environ- Rates) by multiplying each technology mate was chosen because of its effects mental benefits would further increase share by its respective technology emis- on the demand for heating and cooling over the long term. sion rates and summing them for all energy. Per capita GNP is incorporated Transportation is strongly affected by technologies in that development class. because regional differences in wealth the CEM initiatives modelled in this ex- Present and future per capita yearly en- are significant in China, and rising in- ercise. Major emission reductions, par- ergy consumption (GJ/capita/year) val- comes have been a key factor in the ticularly in NOX, result from a relatively ues are calculated for each end use. An surge of urban residential energy use small reduction in automobile acquisi- Energy Consumption Multiplier is calcu- and car ownership. It also reflects both tion, from transportation management lated for each development class which the ability of urban areas to afford cer- and land-use planning. Changes in estimates the difference of development tain types of investment such as public cooking fuels contribute most to total class on overall energy consumption transportation and differences in per- particulate reductions. Cooling does not due to non-technology factors (i.e. the sonal consumption between urban ar- figure strongly in the future scenarios for effects of shared walls; changes in trip eas. City size is used because cities China as a whole, since this end use ac- generation). Total per capita emissions over and under one million are quite dif- counts for a very small percentage of all (GJ/capita/year) for each development ferent in terms of urban form. emissions. class are finally determined by multiply- The model results should be inter- ing development class emission rates by preted as an exploration of the magni- the energy consumption multiplier and 3.2 Data Sources tude of benefits to air quality and CO2 the per capita energy consumption val- The projections are based on numerous emissions that could occur if CEM strate- ues. data sources, including considerable in- gies are adopted. The model is DISP 151 18 2002

Fig. 1: Total annual CO2 emissions for the in- 1000 itial period and future scenarios (2015). 900 CO2 820 MT 800 Fig. 2: Total annual SO2 emissions for the in- 702 MT itial period and future scenarios (2015).

2 700

600 Fig. 3: Total annual NOX emissions for the in- 500 itial period and future scenarios (2015). 400 300

Megatonnes CO Fig. 4: Total annual particulate emissions for 200 177 MT the initial period and future scenarios (2015). 100

0 Initial DCT CEM grounded in data and observable Scenario trends; however, the model has simpli- Fig. 1 fied many of the complexities found in the actual system. For instance, we as- 1200 sume that the comfort level of different

SO2 development classes (i.e. low storey 1000 947 kT compared to high storey) is identical 855 kT and that the average per capita living

2 800 space is the same across all development classes. Also, we are not taking 600 into account many of the behavioural

400 aspects of energy use, and we are not Kilotonnes SO 253 kT considering future changes in coal mix, 200 technological end use efficiency and emission control. In addition, uncer- 0 tainty is also present in the model due to Initial DCT CEM data limitations. [4] A wide range of pa- Scenario rameters in the model were tested in a Fig. 2 sensitivity analysis, including the assumed relationship between urban form

2000 and energy consumption, assumptions

1800 NOX 1742 kT in technology energy efficiencies and coal mix, and energy service demands. 1600 It was found that the results are most 1400

X sensitive to transportation parameters 1200 1038 kT and in particular the projection of motor 1000 vehicle penetration. However, refining 800 this parameter further does not affect the 600 Kilotonnes NO conclusion that CEM structuring of ur- 400 ban form will have a positive impact on 189 kT 200 air quality, but simply when this effect 0 will occur. The gains of structuring ur- Initial DCT CEM ban land form favourably now, even if Scenario motorisation is slower, will still be real- Fig. 3 ised.

600 3.4 Costs Particulates An important consideration in pursuing 500 CEM strategies is cost, and in particu- 444 kT lar, cost in relation to alternative strate- 400 382 kT gies that would also reduce greenhouse gas and local air emissions. Though 300 costs are not explicitly measured in this

200 modelling exercise, some speculations 137 kT are offered.

Kilotonnes Particulates 100 Moving to a more co-ordinated, mixed land-use is likely to lead to total 0 cost reductions in providing and servic- Initial DCT CEM ing basic community infrastructure Scenario (roads, sewers, electricity), and will Fig. 4 lower total energy costs because of effi- Transp. Heating Cooling Cooking ciency improvements. In addition, com- DISP 151 19 2002

bining CEM oriented land-use changes rely on the ability to integrate urban spatial unit to be compartmentalised ac- with transportation, gas and/or district planning and energy planning at a state cording to structure of the bureaucracies energy infrastructure investment would and local level, and on creating policies involved. There is currently little in the increase the cost effectiveness of those that can fit into developing political way of checks and balances to curtail investments. Cost analysis of CEM economy relationships. The emergent the discretionary power of high level measures in a Canadian context have nature of the market system is favou- government officials in making land de- shown costs to be low, and even posi- rable to incorporating, from the start, velopment decisions (Mee Kam Ng, tive per tonne of emission reduced (Jac- tools and processes that can implement 2002). Regulations often go unenforced card et al.,1995; Sadownik, 1999). CEM objectives, such as regulation, [6] and an efficient allocation of devel- We speculate that costs would be some- market incentives, education/informa- opment resources is impeded by am- what higher in China relative to tion and targeted public investment. biguous property rights (Jieming Zhu, Canada because large cost savings in The ability to implement CEM and re- 2002). those studies come from changes in ur- alize the benefits suggested in the mod- In order to reduce arbitrary planning ban form from single detached housing elling exercise also relate specifically to decisions and illegal land transactions, to multi-family housing, a change that is the institutional structures that have de- a stronger legal framework needs to be much less applicable to China. In addi- veloped around land-use planning, en- applied including a clear definition of tion, the China-specific CEM strategies ergy planning and transportation plan- property rights. The current trends to- outlined in this paper call upon in- ning. Given China’s huge population, wards a leasehold land system rather creased penetration of technologies regional and local dynamics, and un- than a system based on private land (gas cooking infrastructure, district en- even pace of change, existing and de- ownership is favourable to the imple- ergy) that are considerably more expen- veloping institutional structures defy mentation of CEM objectives, because sive than the alternative (coal stoves). generalised descriptions. Nevertheless, the state can more easily specify terms Cost evaluation would also be af- we draw on a considerable body of lit- such as building restrictions and design, fected by issues such as prices (the price erature to offer a few insights into how height, arrangement of structures and of coal; whether steam/heat prices are CEM might best be implemented. permitted land-use. Existing building ap- reformed), from who’s perspective cost proval processes could also be exis evaluated (i.e. social or private), and 4.1 Land-Use Planning panded to include consideration of the the types of costs that are included. At the highest level, urban form is deter- use of microclimate, landscaping, and CEM strategies would likely lead to mined through strategic plans (“master the location of paved surfaces. many favourable non-cost benefits – plans”) which set out each city’s identity A master planning process could still such health improvements, employment as well as a plan for its development be a powerful means of encouraging spin-offs, and reducing the loss of agri- and construction. When the plan is ap- sustainability objectives in urban devel- cultural land – which if monetised would proved it becomes a statutory document opment, should it be integrated more reduce the cost. Nevertheless, it can – all development is to coincide with this readily into the actual municipal devel- also be argued that the full cost to soci- plan. This would suggest that China opment approval process by changing ety of moving to a CEM world should in- could easily influence urban develop- its frequency, flexibility and its content. clude any lost consumers’ surplus, for in- ment for energy objectives. However, Removal of the requirement of State stance any lost advantages such as pri- new development can be disjointed and Council approval would discourage vacy, speed, prestige and comfort that poorly planned, while inner-city devel- static plans and adaptive management are associated with particular trans- opment can be scattered and uncon- principals can be incorporated into the portation choices. [5] nected, all of which would indicate that process to allow for more flexibility. For actual development differs from the instance, a mechanism could be created planning process outlined. Development that allows actual development to be 4 Implementation of CEM control may be relaxed in order to in- “fed back” into the plan including the Current residential and transportation crease the attractiveness of particular nature, location, and phasing of infra- energy practices have led to critical and sites for development, so that economic structure investments, and the require- deteriorating air quality conditions in a development and short-term growth can ment for new planning to be done to re- growing number of Chinese cities. In be accelerated (Gar-on Yeh, Fulong flect these changes. Hong Kong and many respects, local environmental pol- Wu, 1995). Land is often developed on Singapore, for example, have flexible lution problems are weighted by gov- the periphery of urban areas because macro structure plans that allow for ernment much more than global prob- acquisition of land for leasing or the de- such feedback (World Bank, 1993). lems, and efforts to address these prob- velopment of commercial housing in the Land-use objectives can also be encour- lems will gain strong public support (Lin city centre involves much time-consum- aged through policy instruments, such Gan, 1998). This is a compelling basis ing bargaining. The structure of eco- as market incentives, that are appropri- for the adoption of CEM strategies. The nomic management and development ate to the government’s evolving role to- successful implementation of CEM will has also caused economic activities in a wards the emergent market economy. DISP 151 20 2002

4.2 Energy Planning subsidies) still account for a substantial responsibilities for municipal transport, Energy planning needs to be able to portion of energy procurement, provid- including the lack of uniform regional identify energy efficiency and alterna- ing weak incentives for investment in planning and conflicting objectives be- tive supply investment opportunities ap- energy conservation. In order to encour- tween municipal departments (Paaswell, propriate to local conditions, and that age future energy conservation, current 1999). make sense from an economic, social subsidies for energy consumption The development of inter-agency and environmental perspective. They should be eliminated. Financial incen- teams at the municipal level, and where then need to encourage the efficient de- tives, which have been used in the past applicable the regional level, would al- velopment of these opportunities. Many to encourage efficient and renewable low for more comprehensive and holis- Chinese national energy policy goals energy supply, also need to reflect the tic planning that includes consideration are in keeping with the CEM strategies – significant changes to energy develop- of demand-side management and land- for example, China has stated policies ment and financing. For example, use planning, as well as traffic manage- of encouraging co-generation, district banks, which have gained considerably ment and engineering traffic solutions. It heating systems and clean coal tech- more control in financing, have little in- is particularly important that a wide nologies such as coal cleaning and coal centive to invest in energy efficiency range of possible strategies are evalu- gasification, as well as equally weight- (Zhong Xiang Zhang, 1995). Lin Gan ated using multiple criteria to determine ing consideration of energy exploitation (1998) argues that energy conservation the most suitable strategy. The United and conservation projects. Neverthe- is unlikely to be favoured by most in- States’ success in changing transporta- less, the actual implementation of these vestors, unless strong policy support is tion planning from highway-oriented to policies has not fully realised their in- in place. Policy measures could include multi-modal planning through its Trans- tent. encouraging commercial banks to offer portation Efficiency Act for the Twenty- CEM strategies require the flexibility preferential interest rates for energy effi- first Century (TEA-21), may be an exam- to comprehensively evaluate energy cient and alternative energy technology ple that China could follow. [7] projects, which is a challenge in the ex- investment, reinstituting the tax exemp- Insecure financing is a significant ob- isting institutional arrangement. Differ- tion for delivered heat, and adjusting stacle for public transport development. ent ministries have different processes the tax treatment of energy equipment Viable fares and an appropriate regula- and guidelines to assess projects; there expenditures to recognise that most re- tory framework for private participation is no single intra-ministry process renewable resources have no fuel costs to are essential for long-term viability of garding project assessment. Sustainable be deducted from revenues for tax pur- the transit system (Chang 1999). Less energy supply could be encouraged by poses (Byrne et al., 1996). expensive means of public transporta- the adoption of consistent and transpar- tion development could be explored that ent procedures across government min- 4.3 Transportation Management can be upgraded as funds permit. For istries and by evaluating options within China currently has a window of oppor- instance, support could be given to the an integrated resource planning frame- tunity to establish effective transporta- improvement of ground public transport work. In considering projects, it is im- tion policies before motorisation is too which could lead into the development portant that the benefits and costs of all far advanced. Faced with considerable of express buses, busways and light rail available supply and demand-side alter- pressures of motorisation and popula- transit. natives and their respective impacts on tion growth, many cities are active in China is unique compared to other the local environment are thoroughly promoting transit, for instance, bus pri- countries in the role of the work unit in studied. ority measures have been established in securing housing for its employees. Greater co-ordination of policies and Kunming, Shenyang and Beijing, and However, this role has undergone signif- investment across energy subsectors is motorcycle and car licenses are auc- icant changes in the past decades, so very important to implementing CEM tioned in Shanghai. Nevertheless, the that work units no longer determine di- objectives. This could be accomplished Chinese government is investing heavily rectly where their staff and workers live, through the addition of integrative in motorisation and car ownership is but instead purchase housing for work- mechanisms or through institutional re- growing significantly. Specific engineer- ers in comprehensively developed hous- structuring. For example, provincial and ing and technical means are often em- ing projects which are developed by the local energy bureaus could be created phasized in domestic traffic research. municipality’s development companies that combine existing separate bureaus. For instance, Chinese master plans fre- (Garon Yeh, Fulong Wu, 1995). The fo- Co-ordinating bodies free from the com- quently have major outlines for urban cus is turning to municipal control over petitive dynamics that often character- road networks which go well beyond business siting. It is critical that the rela- ize interagency communication could the scale of expressway construction in tionship between employee housing be introduced within the bureaucratic existing developed motorised cities and the workplace location is recog- structure. across the world (Stares, Liu Zhi, 1996). nised in new planning processes, so that Plan allocations of energy at below Pursuing alternative transportation ap- future travel demand can be reduced. market prices (in effect acting as energy proaches is complicated by fragmented Approaches could include encouraging DISP 151 21 2002

development companies to co-ordinate ergy policy making. Indeed, China allows Hong Kong’s example – electricity con- with work units that have a demand for ready approaches many energy issues sumption for air conditioners rose 535% housing at the initial development with a CEM angle, for instance through from 1979 to 1993 (Lam, 1996) – then energy use for this end use may be consider- stages of their projects. Or, if projects its strong focus on district energy and able in the future. are already being established, preferen- growing interest in renewable energy [3] Traditional bus services are becoming tial treatment could be given to work development. Furthermore, the munici- particularly unattractive. Bus speeds are unit housing demands that are in closest pality is already part of the institutional falling from congestion, and riders are leav- proximity to the development. structure that oversees energy provision ing for other modes (Chang, 1999). which can complement its role as urban [4] For a fuller discussion of these uncertain- planner. ties, and more detail about the modelling ex- 5 Conclusion Nevertheless, many key challenges ercise in general, see Sadownik (1998). This paper can be viewed as a depar- need to be overcome. Economic oppor- [5] For a fuller discussion of this and other ture point for exploring the relevance of tunities are short-term and immediate, costing issues see Jaccard et al. (2002). CEM to China. The modelling, though it and are difficult to reconcile with longer- [6] For instance, the Regulations for Planning and Conveyance and Transfer of Land Use in may be simple in its method and data term sustainability concerns. And even State Owned Urban Land, which stipulate sources, is illustrative of the magnitude when policy and legislation are formu- land use requirements such as density and sit- of benefits that could be realised in a lated, they need to be supported and ing requirements, are often unenforced country that, like China, is in a position enforced, and different government (Qingshu Xie et al., 2002). of major increases in urban growth and agencies and levels of government co- [7] In order to receive federal infrastructure energy use. Many of the issues raised in ordinated, so that what unfolds is in- funds, TEA21 require cities to establish inter- this paper could be taken up in greater deed guided by policy objectives. This agency organisations to carry-out long-range detail in future research. China has is particularly difficult when local au- intermodal transportation planning and to been treated as a homogenous entity, thorities lack resources, are ineffective submit annual plans for federal approval that and the unique variations in urban plan- and/or vulnerable to corruption. meet flexible sustainability criteria. ning and the development experiences These challenges are not unique to of different urban centres have been China and are neither straightforward overlooked. A study exploring the de- nor simple to overcome. Nevertheless, tailed application of CEM to a specific because urban design measures can be urban community would be an impor- simultaneously supportive of other com- References tant next step in investigating this issue, munity objectives, there are strong mo- BYRNE, J., BO SHEN, XIUGUO LI (1996): both in terms of quantitative analysis tives for policymakers to pursue this The Challenge of Sustainability: Balancing and in terms of the social, political and path. Practices that reinforce sprawled China’s Energy, Economic and Environmen- implementation issues. It would also be land-uses in China are not deeply en- tal Goals. In: Energy Policy, 24, No. 5, useful to broaden the model to evaluate trenched, in contrast to countries where pp. 455–462. costs and to consider other CEM strate- CEM analysis has developed. It is more CALIFORNIA ENERGY COMMISSION gies such as the facilitation of renew- fruitful to shape and mould urban plan- (1993): Energy Aware Planning Guide. able energy technologies. ning and transportation towards sustain- Sacramento, California. Because urban form will orient energy able ends, than to undo fifty years of ur- CHANG, T. (1999/2000): A New Era for patterns far into the future, CEM should ban structure that reinforces unsustain- Public Transport Development in China. In: be an important component of a sus- able energy use. Likewise it is easier to China Environment Series. Woodrow Wilson tainable energy strategy in China, and hinder acquisition or use of the car that Center, Environmental Changes Security Pro- can complement conventional energy has not yet been acquired, than to alter ject, 3, pp. 12–21. analyses and strategies. In many ways, an already existing high per capita CHINA STATISTICAL INFORMATION AND China is well suited to adopting this ownership pattern. CONSULTANCY SERVICE CENTRE (1992): perspective, particularly in being able China Statistical Yearbook. Beijing, People’s to shape market forces before practices Republic of China. become entrenched. The ability to con- Notes DUNPHY, R., FISHER, K. (1996): Transporta- trol land development is potentially tion, Congestion, and Density: New Insights. stronger given China’s conditionally- [1] This specialisation did not occur before now in China. During the Maoist period, ur- In: Transportation Research Record, 1552, structured property rights. Other advan- ban planning was limited, and work units pp. 89–96. tages include the closer ties that cur- provided not only employment, but housing FENG LIU (1993): Energy Use and Conser- rently exist in China between work and and other services to its workers, resulting in vation in China’s Residential and Commer- residence location due to the continuing a mixed-use urban form within walled com- cial Sectors: Patterns, Problems, and organizational role of the work unit, pounds. Prospects. Energy Analysis Program, En- and the existence of fairly active envi- [2] The demand for air conditioners is rising ergy & Environment Division, Lawrence ronmental directives that influence en- considerably. If growth in urban areas fol- Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, California. DISP 151 22 2002

FUQIANG YANG (1997): Personal commu- PETERS, R. (1997): Personal Communication. Bryn Sadownik nication. Lawrence Berkeley National Labo- Based on Work by the Saskatchewan Energy School of Resource and Environmental ratory, Energy and Environment Division. Conservation and Development Authority for Management Berkeley, California. the Canadian International Development Simon Fraser University Agency, 1995. Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6 GAR-ON YEH, A., FULONG WU (1995): In- Canada ternal Structure of Chinese Cities in the Midst QING SHEN (1997): Urban Transportation [email protected] of Economic Reform. In: Urban Geography, in Shanghai, China: Problems and Planning 16, No. 9, pp. 521–554. Implications. In: International Journal of Ur- Prof. Mark Jaccard ban and Regional Research, 21, No. 4, pp. GAUBATZ, P.R. (1995): Urban Transforma- School of Resource and Environmental 589–606. tion in Post-Mao China: Impacts of the Re- Management form Era on China’s Urban Form. In: DAVIS, QINGSHU XIE, PARSA, A., REDDING, B. Simon Fraser University D. et al. (eds.), Urban Spaces in Contempo- (2002): The Emergence of Urban Land Mar- Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6 rary China: the Potential for Autonomy and ket in China: Evolution, Structure, Constraints Canada Community In Post-Mao China. Woodrow and Perspectives. In: Urban Studies, 39, No. [email protected] Wilson Center Press, New York, pp. 28–60. 8, pp. 1375–1398. JACCARD, M., NYBOER. J., SADOWNIK, B. QIU DAXIONG, MA YUQING, LU (2002): The Cost of Climate Policy. UBC YINGYUN (1994): Household Energy Con- Press, Vancouver. sumption in Beijing and Nanning China, In: Energy, 19, No. 5, pp. 529–538. JACCARD, M., FAILING, L., BERRY, T. (1997): From Equipment to Infrastructure: SADOWNIK, B. (1998): Sustainable Energy Community Energy Management and Green- And Urban Form In China: The Relevance of house Gas Emission Reduction. In: Energy Community Energy Management. Masters Policy, 25, No.11, pp. 1065–1074. Degree Research Project, School of Resource and Environmental Management, Simon JIEMING ZHU (2002): Urban Development Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada. under Ambiguous Property Rights: A Case of China’s Transition Economy. In: International STARES, S., LIU ZHI (1996): Motorization in Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 26, Urban China: Issues and Actions. In: China No. 1, pp. 41–57. City Planning Review, 12, No. 1, pp. 13– 26. LAM, J. (1996): An Analysis of Residential Sector Energy Use in Hong Kong. In: Energy, STOCKHOLM ENVIRONMENT INSTITUTE 21, No. 1, pp. 1–8. (2002): China Human Development Report 2002: Making Green Development a LANG SIWEI, FAN YOUCHEN (1990): De- Choice. Oxford University Press, New York. sign of Energy-Efficient Residential Building in Transition Zone of China. In: Energy and TREISTER, K. (1987): Chinese Architecture, Buildings, 14, pp. 225–229. Urban Planning, and Landscape Design – A Series of Essays. Florida Architecture and LANG SIWEI, YU JOE HUANG, LEVINE, M. Building Research Center Monograph, Uni- (1992): Energy Conservation Standard for versity of Florida, Gainesville, Florida. Space Heating in Chinese Urban Residential Buildings. Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, UNITED NATIONS (1995): Compendium of Berkeley, California. Human Settlements Statistics. Fifth Issue. De- partment of Economic and Social Information LEAF, M (1995): Inner City Redevelopment in and Policy Analysis, Statistics Division, New China: Implications for the City of Beijing. In: York. Cities, 12, no. 3, pp. 149–162. WORLD BANK (2002): World Development MEE KAM NG (2002): Sustainable Urban Indicators 2002, On-line Database Development Issues in Chinese Transitional http://www.worldbank.org/data/wdi2002 Cities: Hong Kong and Shenzhen. In: Inter- (August 29, 2002). national Planning Studies, 7, no. 1, pp. 7–36. WORLD BANK (1993): China: Urban Land Management in an Emerging Market Econ- OWENS, S. (1987): Energy, Planning and omy. Washington, D.C., USA. Urban Form. Pion Ltd., London. ZHONG XIANG ZHANG (1995): Energy PAASWELL, R. (1999): Transportation Infra- Conservation in China: an International Per- structure and Land Use in China. In: China spective. In: Energy Policy, 23, No. 2, pp. Environment Series. Woodrow Wilson Cen- 159–166. ter, Environmental Changes Security Project, 3, pp. 12–21. DISP 151 23 2002 Mark Yaolin Wang

Small City, Big Solution? China’s Hukou System Reform and Its Potential Impacts

The most significant move towards tion and employment benefits as local tion in Chinese cities gained access to breaking down the barrier of China’s ex- urban residents. They are also entitled urban jobs mainly through “special isting household registration system (or to contracted farmland in their home vil- channels” (Zhao 2000). My field inter- lages, or they can transfer it to others views in the last few years show that hukou in Chinese) was taken in late (http://www.china.org.cn, December most of the floating population had job 2001, when the Chinese government al- 24, 2001). offers before they moved to urban ar- lowed its peasants to become legal urban This is a very important hukou reform, eas, and many of these jobs were intro- residents in all small cities and towns. and its impacts will be enormous and duced by migrants’ friends from the re- This is a very important hukou reform, multidimensional. Although movement spective home town – or native-place to small cities and towns was never as ties (Zhao 2001). Massey et al.’s obser- and its impacts will be enormous and tightly monitored as movement to large vation that “migrant networks are sets of multidimensional. The first impact is on cities, a freer population mobility policy interpersonal ties that connect migrants, the existing occupational segregation be- will no doubt also attract large numbers former migrants, and nonmigrants in ori- tween migrants and local workers. This of peasants to small cities and towns in gin and destination areas through ties of paper argues that both the phenomenon the hope of becoming legal urban resi- kinship, friendship, and shared commu- dents. This movement will reshape nity origin” holds true for China’s float- of occupational segregation and migra- China’s urbanisation patterns. It repre- ing population (Massey et al. 1993: tion settlement related to native place ties sents not only a simple change from 448). Floating population workers not will become less relevant due to the agricultural hukou status to urban hukou only accessed jobs via such social net- small-city-free policy. In addition, it ad- status, but has several implications works, but also migrant accommodation dresses the potential impacts of this which this paper will discuss. or migrant settlements such as the areas The first impact is on the existing oc- of Zhejiang Village, Xinjiang Village, small-city-free policy on urbanisation and cupational segregation between mi- and Henan Village, as well as Anhui Vil- the urban labour market. Finally, it at- grants and local workers. Before the lage in Beijing (Davin 1999; Ma and tempts to explain the reasons why the small-city-free policy was introduced, ru- Xiang 1998). Chinese government set up the small-city- ral migrants in urban areas (called Therefore, one of the arguments of this free policy and assess the potential im- ˝floating population˝) were not granted paper is that both the phenomenon of legal urban residency status, even occupational segregation and migration pacts of the small-city-free policy on though they had worked and resided in settlement related to native place ties China’s urbanisation pattern/urban sys- urban areas for many years. They had will become less relevant due to the tem, and potential competition between to take 3-D jobs (dirty, demeaning and small-city-free policy. In addition, the those new migrant workers and local dangerous), which were considered to potential impacts of this small-city-free be inferior by urban residents (Roberts policy on urbanisation and the urban workers in the labour markets. It con- 2000; Wu and Li 1997; Meng 1996). labour market will be addressed. The cludes that the small-city-free policy is a They did not pose any serious competi- first section outlines the changing hukou first significant step towards decontrol- tion to local workers for urban non-3-D system and urbanisation processes over ling population mobility. Its impacts need jobs, which were protected by the mu- the years, as well as the impacts of the more research. nicipal government for locals. Meng’s rigid hukou system. Then, an explana- (2000) survey samples show that rural tion as to why the Chinese government migrants in Chinese cities appear to set up the small-city-free policy is given, have little impact on open urban unem- followed by a discussion of the potential 1 Introduction ployment because less than 12 percent impacts of the small-city-free policy on Rapid social and economic changes of migrants are employed in the state China’s urbanisation pattern/urban sys- since 1978 have gradually broken sector and these migrants account for tem, and potential competition between down the barrier of China’s existing 3.5 percent of the total state sector em- those new migrant labourers and local household registration system (or hukou ployment. There was a clear occupa- workers. It concludes that the small-city- in Chinese). The most significant move tional segregation. This paper argues free policy is a first significant step to- was taken in late 2001, when the Chi- that this occupational segregation will wards liberalising population mobility. nese government allowed its peasants to disappear when migrants become per- Its impacts, however, need more re- become legal urban residents in all manent/legal urban residents. search. small cities and towns as long as they Secondly, the degree of dependence can prove that they have a legal static on home town ties for job access and se- dwelling place and a stable source of lection of places to reside will become 2 Strict Hukou System and the income (hereafter we call it small-city- less important when migrants become Emergence of Floating Population free policy). These migrants are entitled legal urban residents. Without legal ur- The hukou system was introduced in to the same housing, medical, educa- ban resident status, the floating popula- 1958 and became the Chinese govern- DISP 151 24 2002

Year Policies or Regulations Implication for population mobility

1958 Hukou Registration Regulations of For the ﬁ rst time, a concept of approval system for PRC rural-to-urban migration was introduced in China.

1963 Agricultural hukou and non-agri- Emergence of dual society: highly subsidised non- cultural hukou were introduced agricultural (urban) population with entitlement for food rations versus agricultural (rural) population.

1975 Amendment of Constitution – abo- Legalisation of the strict control of population lished the items related to freedom mobility. ment’s tool to control rural-urban migra- of population mobility tion. According to the hukou system, all families were tied to a particular place 1977 Regulations for Hukou Change Detailed tough regulations towards migration and divided into non-agricultural (ur- from rural to urban and from small cities to large ban) or agricultural (rural) categories, cities. If a rural hukou holder married an urban and each person was assigned either one, the rural one must work in the rural area and rural or urban status with little hope of child/children were also rural hukou.1 changing this registration (Wan 1995). 1980 Offi cial urban development stra- Population mobility control was linked with na- Basic necessities such as grain and cloth tegy was introduced – “Strictly tional urban development strategy. were available only in strictly rationed control the growth of large cities, amounts through the work units (danwei rationally develop medium-sized in Chinese) or collectives to which indi- cities and encourage development viduals were officially assigned. Popula- of small cities/towns” tion mobility was strictly controlled: 1984 New regulations which allowed The first step toward relaxation of the hukou peasants were unable to move to urban peasants to work and reside system: peasants were allowed to work/reside in centres and urban workers were tied to in small towns, but they should small towns. their particular jobs and accommoda- fi nd jobs and provide food for tion through their work unit. Therefore, themselves the hukou system made China one of the most static societies in terms of popula- 1992 State Council established Docu- Formal organisation in central government was tion mobility in the world. ment Drafting Group for Hukou established to deal with hukou reform and to relax As table 1 shows, from the late 1950s System Reform population mobility control. up to the late 1970s, China’s hukou re- 1993 Proposed Hukou Reform in Small Feasibility study stage for small town hukou lated policies became more and more Towns reform. restrictive. In 1975, the Chinese people’s freedom of mobility was removed 1997 The Ministry of Public Security Experiment Stage of Hukou Reform: Peasants from China’s Constitution. The impact of started pilot work in reforming the were allowed to become legal city/town residents the strict hukou system during the period existing hukou system in 552 in these towns and small cities. small towns and small cities2 from 1958 to 1978 on the society was enormous. First, China had experienced 1998 Ideas for fi xing a few big problems The policy allows urban returnees‘3 spouses and counter-urbanisation in the 1960s and in current hukou management children to move to the city; aged rural-hukou early 1970s. Its urbanisation level parents to move to city where their children live; dropped from 19.7 percent in 1960 to rural hukou holders to move to urban if he/she 17.9 percent in 1978 (see fig. 1). This marries an urban hukou holder; peasants to be- drop was mainly due to restricted rural- come legal urban residents if they invest in the city to-urban migration as well as the “send- or purchase housing property in the city. ing-down programme” – urban youth 2001 Small-city-free policy Peasants are allowed to move to towns and small were sent to rural areas for re- cities. education (Bernstein 1977). Chan (1994) called the hukou system during 1 People’s Daily, 29 August, 2001. this period the city’s “invisible wall”. 2 State Family Planning Commission of PRC, materials are available at www .sfpc.gov.cn/EN/news Rural-urban linkage was artificially cut 20011028-1.htm. off (Knight and Song 1999; Wang 3 Urban returnees refer to those urban youth who were sent down to the countryside and married peasants during the cultural revolution. After 1978 they were allowed to return to their home cities but their rural spouses 1997a; 1997b). and children were left behind. The new regulation allowed these rural spouses and children to move to the city Deng Xiaoping’s open door and re- legally. form programmmes, introduced since Source: www.macrochina.com.cn/zhzt/000093/003/20010823017257.shtml 1978, have called for more cheap labour in urban areas, especially along Table 1: China’s hukou related policy changes and the implications from 1958 to 2001. the coastal regions. Peasants have gradually been allowed to work and reside in urban areas and have been referred to as the floating population. Their movements are mainly rural-urban but also rural-rural, urban-rural and urban- urban, and cross local, county and provincial borders. Some moves were DISP 151 25 2002

60.0 No Strict Period of Hukou Town-and- Hukou 50.0 Hukou Relaxation Small-City-Free Period Period 40.0 (%) 30.0

20.0

10.0 eign-owned or joint venture firms), keep 0.0 “Made in China” products cheap, but they have also provided a variety of ur- 1949 1953 1957 1961 1965 1969 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 2021 2025 ban services and greatly eased the lives Fig. 1: China’s urbanisation level during diffe- of official urban residents. They prepare rent hukou periods, 1949 to 2001. and serve food sold in sidewalk stands Sources: Urbanisation data from China Statis- and fine restaurants, decorate houses, tical Yearbooks (various years); data in 2001 fix bicycles and plumbing, sell vegeta- from People’s Daily, June 7, 2001; post-2001 bles, clothes and a variety of other com- data are from http://www.unhabitat.org. modities in markets that previously did not exist, and do the hard and dirty work in factories, transport and sanita- temporary and seasonal, while others and their interests and political views tion (3-D jobs) (Qian 1996). For exam- are semi-permanent or permanent, but have often been ignored. Discrimination ple, in the mid-1990s, construction in in either case the movers come under against the floating population has been Beijing, one of the city’s most vibrant in- the classification of floating population, widely reported. The most noticeable dustries, was dominated by more than because they are not recognised as le- problem is migrants’ lack of political 800,000 migrant labourers and about gal urban residents by the governments rights and long-term position in the local 80 percent of Beijing’s housekeepers, (Cai 1998). community. Moreover, migrants found restaurant staff and vegetable market Without legal urban residency permis- themselves subject to local restrictions. sellers were floating population (Chan sion, the floating population can survive They were forced to pay a series of 1995). in cities mainly due to the development fees (Yang 2001). Migrant children in • Speeding up urbanisation is conside- of the urban free market (Chan 1995). China’s big cities have struggled to find red to be one of the important driving Rapid development of the urban private places in school. For many, the unli- forces for sustaining economic growth in economy also enables the floating pop- censed route is at best, the only option. China. After two decades of rapid eco- ulation to access goods and services These children have a sense of inferior- nomic growth, one of the challenges outside official channels. A peasant ity wrought by their second-class status China is facing is how to maintain this working in the urban area no longer (http://www.unesco.org/courier). growth and fix the problem of sluggish needs to bring along a supply of grain domestic demand (Webber, Wang and and she/he can always buy it on the 3 Why Small-City-Open-Door Zhu 2002). Urbanisation is thought to open markets (Chan 1996). Only? be an ingredient of further development. The government’s liberalisation of There is no research as to why China This idea was clearly stated in China’s population movement has been carried adopted the small-city-free policy and 10th Five-Year Plan for Economic and out gradually. Since the early 1980s, what its impacts will be. Based on avail- Social Progress (2001–2005). The go- the Chinese government has gradually able information from various sources of vernment’s small-city-free migration po- allowed its citizens much freer mobility, Chinese media and government reports, licy is to expand small cities and towns but such relaxation has been incremen- this paper argues that at least the fol- and make steady progress in urbanisa- tal, even though it is argued that the lowing are the key reasons: tion in order to increase job opportuni- emergence of the floating population in • It has been gradually realised that ties and sources of income for farmers. urban China is associated with a grad- freer labour mobility has become a po- The small-city-free policy is intended to ual loosening of state control over popu- sitive factor in China’s overall economic promote the transfer of redundant rural lation mobility (Fitzpatrick 1999). How- development and that the floating popu- labour, as well as stimulate infrastruc- ever, it is further suggested that the lation have significantly contributed to ture construction and the development emergence of the floating population is China’s urban development. China’s of the real estate industry in small cities not the explicit aim of government poli- stepped-up industrial production, an ex- and towns (Peoples’ Daily, September cies but a by-product of the economic re- panding number of non-state enter- 24, 2001). form and open door policy (Chan prises, and modernisation of urban in- It should be pointed out that the Chi- 1995). frastructure all require a huge number of nese government expects different size The pace of relaxation of the hukou cheap labourers (Logan 2002; Chan cities to perform different tasks. For ex- system, as indicated in table 1, has 1995). ample, small cities and towns are ex- been very slow, and lifting the restriction Rural migrants have transformed the pected to: (i) provide various types of on peasants’ mobility has never been cities of China. Everyone who visits Chi- services for agriculture and farmers, (ii) the Chinese government’s top agenda. It nese cities observes rural migrants’ con- develop advantageous labour-intensive can be argued that peasants in Chinese tributions to the development of Chinese industries, and (iii) support industrial de- society have been the soft potato. They cities. Not only have they built skyscrap- velopment in central cities. The suburbs have been viewed as being less vocal ers, worked in assembly lines (either for- of central cities (central cities are those DISP 151 26 2002

large cities with urban populations over spite some sympathetic notes, the tone have better labour absorbing capacity. two million) are expected to develop ex- of coverage of migrants in the Chinese In fact, many Chinese scholars believe port-oriented, ecologically sustainable press was predominately negative until that medium and large cities are more agriculture. And the central cities them- the small-city-free policy was imple- capable of absorbing labour due to selves are to develop high-tech indus- mented in 2001. In addition, most ur- their better-developed tertiary sector, tries and manufacturing, and other in- banites associate rural migrants with but the government as well as some Chi- dustries with high added-value and chaos, crime, violence, high fertility and nese scholars worry about migrants’ great employment capacity (http:// illicit sex, and they are presented as pressure on large cities and the inherent www.china.org.cn). However, rural mi- threatening to social stability and law social and political risks. grants in medium and large cities are and order in various ways (Davin still not allowed to become legal urban 1999). To many urban residents they residents. appear as foreigners in their midst • Why not big cities? The hukou reform (Roberts 2000). More recently, they are 4 Potential Impacts has not been carried out with undue blamed for taking jobs that could other- The small-city-free policy will reshape haste in large cities and only some cities wise be filled by those laid-off from fail- China’s rural-urban migration pattern have given urban hukou to those pea- ing state industries. Links are often and have a range of impacts, although sants who have invested or purchased made between migration and urban unit is too early to confidently predict these housing in the city. This policy was employment. Urban residents believe impacts. This paper addresses two im- called “Business Investment for Urban that the low wages and profits that mi- portant questions: (i) whether new mi- Hukou and Purchasing Commercial grants are willing to accept are seen by grants will compete with locals in urban Housing for Urban Hukou,” which was urban workers as unfair and invidious labour markets, and (ii) how the migra- issued in 1998 by the Ministry of Public competition. For example, a survey in tion pattern will be changed. It is ar- Security of PRC (http://www.china. the mid-1990s found that 74 percent of gued that new migrants will better com- org.cn December 24, 2001). Shanghai residents held migrants re- pete with locals in urban labour markets The reasons for not allowing all rural sponsible for at least three of the follow- based on equity, qualification and skill, migrants to become legal urban resi- ing four problems: crime, transport, em- and the existing occupational segrega- dents in large cities are both political ployment and environmental degradation will disappear. and economical. On the one hand, the tion (Solinger 1999). Before the small-city-free policy was big concern is the existing urban sub- The floating population are also implemented in late 2001, there was a sidy and benefits. Without urban hukou, blamed for placing great strains on the debate as to whether the floating popu- rural migrants are denied the benefits existing urban infrastructure and serv- lation competed with local workers in ur- (housing, medical, education and em- ices, such as water supply and housing. ban labour markets. This was a very ployment) available to urban hukou Large cities, such as Beijing, Shang- sensitive issue (Yang 2001; Dutton holders, even if they live and work in hai and Guangzhou, are simply ill- 1998). As mentioned above, many lo- cities. It is also true that per capita pub- equipped to cope with the needs of the cals, including the media, believed mi- lic welfare levels in large cities are much millions of people from the floating pop- grants did compete with locals. It was higher than in small cities. Therefore, as ulation. In Beijing, the floating popula- believed that urban labourers were in a long as the urban subsidy exists, it is tion accounts for about a quarter of its disadvantaged position and that low- temporarily unsuitable and politically total population, in Shanghai about one skill urban jobs seldom met minimum sensitive to pursuing the policy of de- third (Webber, Wang and Zhu 2002). It standards because the floating popula- controlling the hukou system in large is believed that the grade of infrastruc- tion had drastically altered the urban cities. The financial implication is that ture construction is much higher in large labour market and was willing to do al- each additional urban hukou holder in a cities, and the amount of government most anything. Therefore, the market for large city means one more financial bur- public expenditure needed for an in- unskilled jobs has become a contest to den for municipal government. crease of every urbanite is large. It is fi- see who can endure the most, with the On the other hand, urban residents’ nancially impossible for the municipal floating population usually “winning”. complaints are the important political government to support the large number Being from a farming background, the reason. Despite the contributions of ru- of newly-added legal urban residents migrants did not know much about ral migrants to urban development be- (People’s Daily, September 24, 2001). labour contracts, and they were usually ing recognised by the government in the Therefore, the Chinese government is not concerned about benefits such as recent years, urban residents in large making an effort to channel rural mi- health insurance and pensions (Iredale cities blame the floaters for crowding grants into small cities and towns. It is 2000). As such, rural migrants’ “advan- the railway stations and buses and con- expected that this will not only help cut tages” over urban labour, including ur- gregating in groups while waiting for unemployment in villages, but also ac- ban laid-off workers, were mainly due work in street-side labour markets celerate the urbanisation process. This is to the fact they accepted low wage jobs (Solinger 1999; Wu and Li 1997). De- not to say that small cities and towns (floating populations’ monthly wage DISP 151 27 2002

Floater Floater

small large small large was about 56 to 64 percent of those of city city city city urban residents) and “they can bear hardship and are easily manageable” (Knight, Song and Jia 1999: 91). Chan (1995) concludes that the migrant workers are happy to work for low wages, AB because wages low by urban standards are very high by rural standards (Hare 1999). New Legal New Legal Most researchers and observers, how- Urban Hukou Urban Hukou ever, do not believe there is serious com- Holders Holders petition in urban labour markets between migrants and locals. Knight and 1978–2000 Post-2000 Song (1999), analysing a survey of workers in urban enterprises, found Fig. 2: Changing migration patterns in China: sharp segmentation between urban resi- 1978 to 2000 and post-2000 periods. dents and rural migrants due to the unique political and institutional ar- fects of migration on the labour market. city-free policy will attract more and rangements in China which gave urban To many immigrants in Australia, the le- more rural migrants. So far, the re- residents privileged access to secure gality is not the central issue – the cen- sponse to the policy has been very ac- employment at above market-clearing tral issues are about difference, and es- tive. For example, during the trial pe- wages and which controlled the flow of pecially about English language ability riod for the small-city-free policy (1996 peasants to the cities, allowing rural mi- (Cobb-Clark and Connolly 2001). How- to 2000), Zhejiang Province’s 105 grants to fill only the jobs that urban ever, the hukou changes do strengthen towns and small cities were selected as dwellers did not want (Appleton, the hand of Chinese rural migrants in ur- pilot towns and small cities to practice Knight, Song and Xia 2001). Obvi- ban areas and the language barrier is the small-city-free policy. During that pe- ously, there is a clear occupational seg- not a problem (even many rural migrants riod they had absorbed over 400,000 regation. For the floating population, prefer to speak local dialect but they can rural residents, with the population of employment options were limited and all speak Mandarin). The legality will 80 percent of the chosen small cities the majority of migrant workers took up erode the dividing line between urban and towns being doubled (http://www. the 3-Ds jobs. native born and migrants, even though china.org.cn. December 24, 2001). However, it can be argued that when not all migrants change their jobs imme- Therefore, the on-going hukou reform rural migrants become legal urban resi- diately after becoming urban residents will lead to a new wave of migration in dents in small cities and towns, the his- because they still need jobs and they are China, particularly considering the fol- torically segmented nature of urban em- used to different kinds of work. lowing developments: (i) economic ben- ployment in China will break down and The second set of impacts is related to efits: rural out-migrants sent home 30 the jobs of the migrants and the urban rural-urban migration patterns. It is not percent of their income which equals 80 residents will become more interchange- difficult to make a prediction that the mi- percent of rural expenditure on fixed as- able. As mentioned above, occupa- gration pattern may be changed due to sets, and 3.7 times the state expenditure tional segregation by residency was a the introduction of the small-city-free pol- on agricultural production and adminis- phenomenon when rural migrants’ resi- icy. As fig. 2 shows, compared with the tration (Cai 1998); (ii) large number of dency rights were denied and they were period 1978 to 2001, the post-2001 rural surplus labourers: out of the total treated as second-class citizens. Now period will witness these four main number of 490 million rural labourers, they may not accept underpaid jobs, streams of population mobility: Group A 150 million are engaged in farming (but nor are they likely to be willing to “win” will form the largest group among all ru- not all full time), 135 million are em- at a wage disadvantage by comparison ral-urban migrants. It includes those ru- ployed by township and village enter- with established urban residents. The ral migrants who directly migrate to prises (some in small cities and towns), permanency of migrants’ residence sta- small cities and towns and become ur- about 50 million are working in cities, tus will offer them more access in job ban hukou holders. They will change and there is a surplus of 150 to 200 mil- hunting and grant more confidence in China’s migration direction. The migra- lion in rural areas (Zhang 1998; Wu wage bargaining than when they were tion pattern during the period of 1978 and Li 1996); (iii) more surplus labour is “floating” or temporary illegal urban to 2001 was dominated by floaters. inevitable: China’s accession to WTO in residents in the period preceding the Both large and small cities were flooded 2001 will release more rural labour small-city-free policy. by the floating population. Only a small from agricultural activities, according to This is different from the evidence from proportion of rural migrants became ur- the predictions by both the Chinese gov- such places as Australia about the ef- ban hukou holders. However, the small- ernment and scholars (Liu 2001). DISP 151 28 2002

1999 1980

Super large cities (>2 million) 13 1.9% 7 3.1%

Large cities (0.5–2 million) 73 10.9% 38 17.1% 1– 24 3.6% 8 3.6% 0.5 1 million 49 7.3% 30 13.5%

Medium-sized cities (0.2–0.5 million) 216 32.2% 70 31.5%

Small cities (<0.2 million) 368 54.9% 108 48.4% towns, are they moving to nearby cities 0.1–0.2 248 37.0% 62 27.8% and towns or to those in economically <0.1 120 17.9% 46 20.6% prosperous regions such as the deltas of Lower Yangtze and Pearl River or urban Total 670 100.0% 223 100.0% corridors of Beijing-Tianjin and Shen- Designated towns 20,312 – 2,874 – yang-Dalian, as these have traditionally been the centres of economic growth Sources: Urban Statistical Y ’s National Condi- (Wang 1998; Lin 1997)? What are the tion Analysis and Research Group, Chinese Academy of Sciences 1996 implications for China’s spatial pattern Table 2: Number of cities and designated of urban growth and urban system? Is towns in China, 1989 and 1999. this what the government wants? The second set of questions relates to the nature of migration to small cities and towns. Is there a brain drain from The immediate impact is that China’s Groups C and D represent those mem- rural to urban areas? Will these wealth- urban system will be reshaped largely bers of the floating population in large ier and skilled rural labourers move to due to a dramatic increase in the official and small cities respectively. It is difficult small cities and towns permanently? urban population in small cities. This to predict how many rural migrants will What are the implications for rural de- phenomenon can be called small-city- float to large cites even when legally mi- velopment? All these need more re- targeted urbanisation. This urbanisation grating to small cities and towns is an search attention. pattern will further flatten China’s urban option for them. But it is certain that a In the future, China needs to take fur- system (table 2). As stated in table 1, smaller proportion of rural migrants will ther steps towards fair and equal rights China’s official urbanisation strategy become floaters in small cities and for its rural population. The small-city- since 1980 has been characterised by towns than that in the period from 1978 free policy is not ideal. It is not a long- limiting the growth of large cities and to 2001. Those who still prefer to be term solution but a first step to address encouraging the development of small floaters to small cities and town are the crux of the migration problem: how cities. The urban system has been in- farmers who are able to commute to to create employment opportunities in creasingly dominated by small cities nearby small cities or towns daily by bi- an economy in transition to a more mar- and towns. For example, the number of cycle, motorbike or tractor to work or ket-oriented system. It is understandable small cities accounted for 48.4 percent sell agricultural products or may work in that the government must address these of total cities in 1980 but for 54.9 per- small cities or towns during non-peak- problems without causing large social cent in 1999. The number of designated farming seasons (but they spend most of and political dislocations. The question towns increased from 2,874 in 1980 to their time in their villages). is when the large cities will open their 20,312 in 1999. The implementation of doors to peasants. This has been a po- the small-city-free policy will eventually litically sensitive issue. Over the last two lead to further expansion of small cities 5Discussion decades, the Chinese government has and towns in terms of both the number China’s small-city-free policy offers rural reformed its hukou system gradually. of cities and the urban population. migrants an option to become legal ur- One of the key obstacles for free popu- Group B includes those rural people ban residents. This is a significant relation mobility is dematerialisation of who will be granted urban hukou in form related to rural-urban migration. the hukou system. The small-city-free pol- China’s large cities. However, they are The Chinese government has realised icy was possibly due to several reforms wealthy or highly skilled labour. They the importance of urbanisation in its related to dematerialisation of the hukou have to buy commercial property or op- economic and social development. system – hukou has gradually been sep- erate a business in large cities. Cur- China’s last two decades of reform arated from material subsidy and privi- rently many large Chinese cities like demonstrate that while economic free- lege with regard to job access, school- Shanghai, Shenzhen and Zhuhai have dom has increased individual mobility, ing, and social welfare. When the Chi- regulations according to which any- mobility has also facilitated economic nese hukou has nothing to do with em- body who has bought local commercial progress. But the Chinese government is ployment, schooling, welfare, but only property can apply for status as a per- taking a very cautious step towards free- personal identification, then the large manent resident; Beijing allows free in- dom of mobility. cities will accept rural migrants as legal flow of technical workers with senior This partial decontrolling of popula- urban residents. professional titles (People’s Daily, Au- tion mobility raises several further re- gust 28, 2001). But they accounted for search questions. The first set of ques- Note a small proportion of rural out-migrants tions is related to the geographical pat- until the restriction to migrate to large tern of rural-urban migration. If rural mi- I would like to thank Dr. Michael Webber, cities was removed. grants are moving to small cities and Jon Barnett and Dr. Martina Koll-Schretzen- DISP 151 29 2002

mayr and the anonymous reviewers for their KARMEL, S. (1996): The neo-authoritarian book 2000, Beijing, National Statistical Bu- constructive suggestions and comments. dilemma and the labour force: control and reau of P.R. China. bankruptcy vs instability, Journal of Contem- SSB (2001): China’s Urban Statistical Year- porary China, 5(12): pp. 111–133. References book 2000, Beijing: Statistics Press (in Chi- KNIGHT, J., SONG, L., HUAIBIN, J. (1999): nese). APPLETON, S., KNIGHT, J., SONG, L. and “Chinese Rural Migrants in Urban Enter- WAN, G. (1995): “Peasant flood in China: XIA, Q. (2001): Towards a competitive prises: Three Perspectives,” Journal of Devel- internal migration and its policy determi- labour market? Urban workers, rural mi- opment Studies, 35, pp. 73–104. grants, redundancies and hardships in nants,” in Third World Quarterly, June 1995, China, Occasional paper of Institute of Con- KNIGHT, J., SONG, L. (1999): The rural-ur- 16(2): pp. 173–198. ban divide: economic disparities and inter- temporary China Studies, Nottingham Uni- WANG, M.Y. (1998), Mega urban regions actions in China. Oxford University Press. versity. in China, Beijing: Ocean Press. LIN, G.C.S. (1997): Red capitalism in south BERNSTEIN, T.P. (1977): Up to the mountains WANG, M.Y. (1997a): Rural labour transi- China, Vancouver: UBC. and down to the villages: the transfer of tion in China, Asian Studies Review, youth from urban to rural China, New LIU, G.S.J. (2001): China’s WTO accession 21(2/3): pp. 198–211. Haven: Yale University Press. & the impact on its manufacturing enter- WANG, M.Y. (1997b): The disappearing ru- prises, Singapore: National University of Sin- CAI, F. (1998): Regional characteristics of ral-urban boundary? rural socioeconomic gapore. labour migration in China’s transitional pe- transformation in the Shenyang-Dalian re- riod, conference paper delivered at Labor LOGAN, J. (ed.) (2002): The new Chinese gion of China, Third World Planning Review, Mobility and Migration in China and Asia, city: globalization, market reforms, and mi- 19 (3): pp. 229–250. CASS, Beijing, April 17/18. gration. Blackwell. WEBBER, M.J, WANG, M.Y.L., ZHU, Y. CHAN, K.W. (1994): Cities with invisible MA, L.J.C., XIANG, B. (1998): Native place, (2002): China’s Transition to a Global Econ- walls, Hong Kong: Oxford University Press. migration and the emergence of peasant en- omy, Hampshire: MacMillan (in press). CHAN, M.J. (1995): “Floating populations: claves in Beijing, The China Quarterly, Sept, WU H.X. and LI, Z. (1997): Rural to urban The Effects of a Migrant Chinese Workforce,” No. 155: pp. 546–582. migrants in China, Asia-Pacific Economic Lit- Harvard International Review, Fall 1995, MASSEY, D., ARANGO, J., GRAEME, H., erature, 7(2). Vol. 17, Issue 4, pp. 62–66. KOUAOUCI, A., PELLEGRINO, A., TAYLOR YANG, Y. (2001): “Social Exclusion and CHAN, S. (1996): The floating population: J.E. (1993): “Theories of International Migra- Economic Discrimination: The Status of Mi- An informal process of urbanisation in tion: A Review and Appraisal,” Population grants in China’s Coastal Rural Areas,” China, International Journal of Population and Development Review, 19(3): pp. 431– Working paper No. E2001005, April 19, Geography, September 1996, 2(3), pp. 466. 2001, China Center for Economic Research, 197–214. MENG, X. (1996): Regional wage gap, in- Beijing University. COBB-CLARK, D.A., CONNOLLY, M.D. formation flow, and rural-to-urban migration, ZHANG, Q. (1998): Research on the status (2001): Wives and mothers: The labour-mar- paper presented at the International Confer- of temporarily-staying population engaged in ket experiences of immigration women. In: ence on the Flow of Rural Labour in China, industry, business and service trades in BORLAND, J., GREGORY, B., SHEEHAN, P. Beijing. (eds.), Work rich, work poor: Inequality and China, paper delivered at Labor Mobility economic change in Australia, Melbourne: MENG, X. (2000): Labour Market Reform in and Migration in China and Asia Confer- Centre for Strategic Economic Studies, Victo- China, Cambridge: Cambridge University ence, CASS, Beijing, 17./18 April. Press. ria University, pp. 78–994. ZHAO, S. (2000): “Organizational Charac- DAVIN, D. (1999): Internal migration in con- QIAN, W.B. (1996): Rural-Urban Migration teristics of Rural Labor Mobility in China,” in temporary China, London: Routledge. and its Impact on Economic Development in West and Zhao (eds.) Rural Labor Flows in China, Aldershot: Avebury. China, Institute of East Asian Studies, Univer- DUTTON, M. (1998): Streetlife China Cam- sity of California, Berkeley. bridge: CUP. ROBERTS, K.D. (2000): “Chinese Labor Mi- gration: Insights from Mexican Undocu- ZHAO, Y.H. (2001): The role of migrant net- FITZPATRICK, F. (1999): Work and mobility: mented Migration to the United States”. In: works in labour migration: the case of China, Recent labour migration issues in China, Asia WEST and ZHAO (eds.), Rural Labor Flows Working paper No. 20001012, China eco- Pacific Migration Research Network Work- in China, Institute of East Asian Studies, Uni- nomic research center, Beijing University. ing Paper (No. 6), University of Wollongong. versity of California, Berkeley. HARE, D. (1999): “‘Push’ versus ‘pull’ factors SOLINGER, D. (1999): Contesting Citizen- in migration outflows and returns: determi- ship: Peasant Migrants, the State, and the nants of migration status and spell duration Logic of Market in Urban China, Berkeley among China’s rural population,” Journal of and Los Angeles: University of California Dr. Mark Yaolin Wang Development Studies, 35(3), pp. 45–47. Press. School of Anthropology, Geography and IREDALE, R. (2000): China’s labour migra- Environmental Studies SSB (various years): China Statistical Year- tion since 1978. In: HARVIE, C. (ed.), Con- The University of Melbourne book, Beijing: National Statistical Bureau of temporary developments and issues in VIC 3010 P. R, China. China’s economic transition, London: Australia Macmillan, pp. 212–237. SSB (2001): China Labour Statistical Year- [email protected] DISP 151 30 2002 Sung-Cheol Lee, Kark-Bum Lee

Inward Investment and the Transformation of Regional Economies in China From Regional Convergence to Fragmentation between 1953 and 1996

The main aim of this paper is to con- sector recovery as long as an appropri- form of uneven regional development, tribute to the discussion on the relation- ate regulatory and incentive framework differentiating development between the ships between foreign direct investment to support a market economy was put Mao and the post-Mao era. Indeed, in in place (Smart, 1998:429; Angresa- order to understand the regional frag- (FDI) and regional development in China. no, 1994:82). China has, nonetheless, mentation of the contemporary Chinese More specifically, it identifies the funda- been seen as more successful in achiev- economy, it is necessary to point out ex- mentally different modes of development ing an economic transition to capitalism isting regional economic structures and between the Mao and the post-Mao era, than many other state socialist econo- the relationships between central and lo- and explores the role of inward FDI in or- mies. For example, since 1978 China’s cal government with regard to inward real GDP has recorded much higher investment. However, such a discussion der to understand the regional fragmen- growth than other state socialist eco- is beyond the scope of this paper. The tation of the contemporary Chinese econ- nomies, even exceeding other develop- paper therefore focuses primarily upon omy. The paper is divided into three sec- ing Asian economies, comparable to the fragmented pattern of Chinese re- tions. First, it illuminates the transforma- Japan from 1960 to 1974, and South gional development dominated by FDI. tion of regional economies in China to- Korea from 1965 to 1978 (Smart, The paper is divided into three sec- 1998:428). Much of the growth in Chi- tions. The first section illuminates the wards FDI and the geography of regional na has been implemented by a different process of opening up towards FDI and inequality in contemporary China. Then, mode of development than in CEE, for it the geography of regional inequality in it explores the limits of Mao’s strategies is based upon export-oriented capitalist contemporary China. It shows that the for regional development, which led to industrialisation through the introduction establishment of new industrial spaces the introduction of FDI. The final section of foreign direct investment (FDI). and “preferential policies” for them has The impacts of inward investment on led to the dramatic rise of FDI and re- highlights the way in which the concen- the economy, however, have undergone gional fragmentation. The latter repre- tration of FDI in new industrial spaces has further regional disparity in China. sents the historical contexts of the new led to regional fragmentation in the post- Nonetheless, only some literature con- forms of uneven regional development. Mao era by analysing the extent to which centrates on the inter-regional dimen- In the Mao era, strategies of regional FDI has influenced industrial production, sions of economic change related to FDI development were inspired by the ideo- (Fan, 1995, 1997; Leung, 1996), al- logical concern for regional equality international trade and employment. though a vast amount of literature is con- and defence considerations arising from cerned with assessing the impact of perceived international threats. This these changes at the national level mode of development had more or less 1 Introduction (for example, see Murphy, 1974; Klein- decreased regional inequality, as state- The Chinese economy has undergone a berg, 1990; Shirk, 1993; Lardy, 1994; led investment accelerated big industrial profound transformation since 1978 Nolan, 1994; Perkins, 1994; Griffin capital investment in the underdevel- due to an economic opening up. Eco- and Khan, 1994; Yusuf, 1994; Chen, oped region, especially in the central nomic structures established under Chang and Zhang, 1995; Ma, 1997; and the western region. However, re- China’s state socialist system are being Smart, 1998). The paper therefore aims gional economic strategies implemented transformed by a number of processes to contribute to the discussion on the re- under the Mao era were not able to which together constitute an attempt to lationships between FDI and regional equalise levels of development. The sec- open the door – the introduction of for- development in China. tion focuses on the limit of Mao’s devel- eign investment, the privatisation of The strategy of economic develop- opment model as the background of FDI state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and the ment in China has favoured the eastern introduction. The third section highlights development of town and village enter- region, especially “new industrial spa- the concentration of FDI in “new indus- prises (TVEs), are all a part of this “tran- ces,” suggesting preferential policies in trial spaces” in the eastern region, sition to capitalism.” However, the tran- foreign investment, foreign-exchange re- whose transition is driving the post-Mao sition in China has not been as effective tention, revenue-remittance, pricing and era and has led to regional fragmenta- as that witnessed in Central and Eastern finance (Fan, 1995:426). These prefer- tion. It is analysed by the extent to which Europe (CEE). “China’s reforms have ential policies have played a critical FDI has influenced industrial production, not involved a substitution of the cen- role as the institutional mechanism for international trade and employment. trally planned market as the integrative the introduction of FDI. Along with this, mechanism for the economy” (Smart, “new industrial spaces” have under- 2 Opening up Towards FDI and the 1998:434) while transformation per- gone industrial restructuring dominated Geography of Regional Inequality formed in CEE was based on the as- by foreign investment. Consequently, it in Contemporary China sumption that the reduction of state in- has given rise to the uneven develop- As a measure of Chinese economic re- fluence over the economy would auto- ment of transition and regional fragmen- form, the importance of FDI in China matically and quickly stimulate a private tation. It is argued that this is a new since 1978 cannot be understated. It DISP 151 31 2002

US$ million (% as of world FDI)

1984–89 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995

China 2,282 3,487 4,366 11,156 27,515 33,787 37,500 (1.98) (1.71) (2.77) (6.64) (13.23) (14.97) (11.91) Indonesia 133 162 141 151 273 620 1,750 (0.12) (0.08) (0.09) (0.09) (0.13) (0.27) (0.56) Malaysia 798 2,333 3,998 5,183 5,006 4,384 5,800 FDI is the contribution to gross domestic (0.69) (1.14) (2.53) (3.08) (2.41) (1.94) (1.84) product (GDP). The share of FDI in Philippines 326 530 544 228 1,025 1,457 1,500 China’s GDP has increased from 0.9 (0.28) (0.26) (0.34) (0.14) (0.49) (0.65) (0.48) per cent of GDP in 1984 to 16.1 per Thailand 676 2,444 2,014 2,116 1,726 640 2,300 cent in 1996 (table 2). Secondly, FDI (0.59) (1.20) (1.28) (1.26) (0.83) (0.28) (0.73) has taken on one of the most important Vietnam 2 16 32 24 25 100 150 roles in China’s international economic (0.00) (0.01) (0.02) (0.01) (0.01) (0.04) (0.05) activities through increased access to foreign markets. The contribution of FDI Slovakia ––––199 303 250 (0.10) (0.13) (0.08) to the growth of China’s foreign trade has increased. The share of FDI in total Czech Rep. ––––563 862 2,500 exports, for example, increased sharply (0.27) (0.38) (0.79) from only 1.1 per cent of total exports in Former 43 207 600 1,103 ––– 1985 to 20.4 per cent in 1992, and to CSFR (0.04) (0.1) (0.38) (0.66) 40.7 per cent in 1996 (SSB 1995; and Poland 16 89 291 678 1,715 1,875 2,510 see table 8). The third benefit is in the (0.01) (0.04) (0.18) (0.40) (0.82) (0.83) (0.80) form of the creation of employment. Hungary – – 1,462 1,479 2,350 1,144 3,500 Around 5.4 million Chinese were em- (0.93) (0.88) (1.13) (0.51) (1.11) ployed by foreign investment enterprises in 1996 (table 3). Although this is only World 115,370 203,812 157,730 168,122 207,937 225,660 314,933 2.7 per cent of the urban workforce, the (100) (100) (100) (100) (100) (100) (100) significance of FDI for employment is in-

Source: Elaborated from World Bank, 1996 creasing year by year, accounting for a rise from 0.05 per cent of the urban Table 1: Comparative levels of inward FDI in workforce in 1985 to 0.39 per cent in the selected state socialist economies and 1990, and 2.7 per cent in 1996. Southeast Asian economies. Notwithstanding the significance of FDI in the Chinese economy, the geog- has progressively directed industrial in- policies against foreign capital and raphy of regional inequality emerged as vestment policy, leading to the establish- technology. [1] the result of the interaction of new insti- ment of special economic zones (SEZs) The significance of FDI can be wit- tutions and foreign business activities. and open coastal cities (OCCs), reshap- nessed in three major benefits for the This regional inequality in contempo- ing attitudes towards work and wealth Chinese economy. The first benefit from rary China was enforced by the formal creation, and helped redesign the business and legal framework. However, it has resulted in further regional inequal- GDP Accumulated FDI Accumulated FDI ) ity. This section illuminates the impact of (RMB 100 million)* as % of GDP FDI on the economy and regional inequality in contemporary China. 1981 – 35.0 – Given the emphasis on FDI in the 1984 7,171 64.6 0.90 1985 8,964 113.3 1.26 process of reforming Chinese econo- 1986 10,202 177.9 1.74 mies, it comes as no surprise that China 1987 11,962 264.1 2.20 has attracted higher inward investment 1988 14,928 382.9 2.56 than other state socialist economies and 1989 16,909 510.4 3.02 ASEAN in the post-Mao era (World 1990 18,531 677.1 3.65 Bank, 1996). Table 1 shows compara- 1991 21,617 918.1 4.24 tive levels of FDI in the selected state so- 1992 26,635 1,524.6 5.72 cialist countries and Southeast Asian 1993 34,515 3,005.7 8.70 countries between 1984 and 1995. For 1994 45,006 4,431.8 9.84 example, in 1990, China’s share in 1995 58,478 7,564.8 12.93 global FDI was only 1.7 per cent. How- 1996 68,593 11,031.9 16.08 ever, data for 1995 show that US$ *) Converted from US$ into RMB using ofﬁcial current exchange rate taken from SSB 37.5 billion was invested in China, accounting for 11.9 per cent of the total Source: Elaborated from SSB, 1995 to1997 a global capital flow. This is a result of the Table 2: Growth of FDI and GDP in China, response to the abandonment of Mao’s 1984 to 1996. DISP 151 32 2002

Total number of employment Urban (A) Foreign ﬁrms (B) B/A (%) (10 thousand)

1985 49,878 12,808 6 0.05 1986 51,282 13,293 13 0.10 1987 52,783 13,783 21 0.16 1988 54,334 14,267 31 0.21 1989 55,329 14,390 47 0.33 1990 63,909 16,616 66 0.39 1988 and 1991, when foreign invest- 1991 64,799 16,977 165 0.98 ment almost ground to a halt in the 1992 75,554 17,241 221 1.28 wake of the Tiananmen Square episode 1993 66,373 17,589 288 1.64 and years of political uncertainty. How- 1994 67,199 18,413 406 2.21 ever, since then FDI has accelerated 1995 67,947 19,093 513 2.66 dramatically, each year accounting for 1996 68,850 19,815 541 2.73 around twice the growth of the previous Source: Elaborated from SSB, 1997a one. It is important to note the reasons for the post-1991 growth rate. The in- Table 3: The share of employment by foreign crease in FDI seems to be associated enterprises, 1985 to 1996. with a more laissez faire and positive attitude on the part of the Chinese author- adaptation of the “three economic belts 1985, three “development triangles,” ities towards foreign investors. Related division of labour” for the seventh Five- the Yangtze River Delta, the Pear River to this were moves to extend SEZs into Year Plan (FYP) between 1986 and Delta in Guangdong province, and the inland regions, the Chinese government 1990. They comprise the eastern, cen- Min Nan region in Fujian, were also simplified the contract approval process tral and western regions, according to opened to foreign investors (Chen, and improved the security of property the region’s comparative advantage Chang and Zhang, 1995). Comple- rights for foreign investors (Chen, and regional division of labour. The menting the opening up policy, new Chang and Zhang, 1995:693; Kamath, eastern region specialises in export-ori- provisions such as the Joint Venture Im- 1994). Thus, the expansion of the con- ented industry and foreign trade; the plementing Regulation in 1983 and the cept of SEZs and various legislated in- central region in agriculture and energy Patent Law in 1985 further encouraged vestment incentives gave rise to a signif- development; and the western region in FDI, making China even more attractive icant increase in FDI. animal husbandry and mineral exploita- to investors (Kleinberg, 1991:196). The statistics in table 4 bear witness to tion (Fan, 1997:623). In order to pro- These measures were followed, in this. The estimated average national per mote export-led industry and foreign 1988, by a CCP decision to set up capita GDP for 1996 was RMB 6,123 trade in the eastern region, the Chinese Hainan Province as the biggest and fifth (US$ 716). [3] Recently published state government established new industrial SEZ, and to extend the open coastal ar- data for regional GDP suggests that spaces to attract foreign investment. The eas into an open coastal belt. More re- there are significant regional variations government also provided “preferential cently, the concept of SEZs has been ex- from these national figures. The poorest policies” for investment, foreign-expanded to include Pudong new zone in region – Guizhou Province in the west- change retention, revenue-remittance, Shanghai. In 1992, 13 free trade areas ern region for instance – records a per pricing and finance to promote these lo- were established in major port cities. capita GDP of only RMB 2,025 or US$ cations. As inward investment in these Until 1990, SEZs were exclusively 245 (33 per cent of national average locations has boosted economic growth, coastal. Since then they have gravitated per capita GDP). In contrast, the wealth- China has undergone new forms of re- inland to include even autonomous re- iest region, Shanghai municipality, gional fragmentation. gions. recorded a figure of RMB 20,452 or The introduction of FDI in China was The expansion of these economic lib- US$ 2,473 (more than three times the underpinned by the adoption of the Law eralisation zones has closely corre- national average). Between these two of the People’s Republic of China on sponded to the growth of cumulative in- extremes, most regions in the east have Joint Ventures Using Chinese and For- ward investment. As table 2 indicates, a per capita GDP of over 125 per cent eign Investment at the Fifth National the initial response of foreign investors of the national average, while only People’s Congress in July 1979 (Lardy, to the opening of China was less than three provinces in the central region – 1994:63). It was further stimulated by enthusiastic. From the opening in 1979 Jilin, Heilongjiang and Hubei – show the establishment of SEZs in Shenzhen, to the establishment of SEZ in 1981, the figures close to the average per capita Zhuhai and Shantou in Guandong Prov- amount of accumulated investment (RMB GDP and only one province in the west, ince, and Xiamen in Fujian Province, 3.5 billion) was only half of the 1984 Xingiang, shows a per capita GDP over which had been established along the figure (RMB 6.4 billion). Although dur- 65 per cent of the country wide figure. southeast coast. These SEZs played im- ing the establishment of the 14 OCCs All regions that record above average portant roles as testing grounds for ex- (1984 to 86) China attracted consider- per capita GDP have received signifi- perimental economic and social re- able FDI, real growth in FDI did not hap- cant levels of FDI. forms. The central Committee of the pen until after the mid-1980s. This was This is especially seen in eastern re- Communist Party (CCP) of China and due to uncertainty about property rights gions where per capita GDP is over 150 the State Council extended the concept and the fear of a Chinese government per cent of the national average. of SEZs to a further 14 coastal open policy reversal (Kamath, 1990, 1994). For example, inward FDI in Beijing, cities [2] between 1984 and 1986. In Further setbacks occurred between Shanghai, Tianjin, Fujian and Guang- DISP 151 33 2002

FDI per capita Index GDP per head Index

Eastern 1,207 204 9,395 157 Beijing 1,233 289 12,833 210 Tianjin 2,271 531 11,629 190 Hebei 128 30 5,325 87 Liaoning 422 99 7,672 125 Shanghai 2,777 650 20,452 334 Jiangsu 733 171 9,837 161 Zhejiang 350 82 9,547 156 coastal cities in 1949 (Fan, 1995:422). Fujian 1,253 293 7,994 131 Mao’s new communist government saw Shandong 301 71 6,821 111 the closure of foreign investment as a Guangdong 1,689 395 9,365 153 way of dealing with the problem of Guangxi 145 34 4,074 67 regional inequality. In keeping with Lenin’s view that the export of capital Central 94 22 4,345 74 from capitalist countries acted as the Shanxi 44 10 4,199 69 central mechanism of imperialism and Inner Mongolia 31 7 4,269 70 that international companies were “dou- Jilin 173 40 5,123 84 ble” parasites, exploiting the working Heilongjiang 152 36 6,445 105 class in their own nation as well as Anhui 8 3 20 3,854 63 those of colonial or more backward Jiangxi 73 17 3,696 60 countries (Hayter and Han, 1998:5 to Henan 57 13 4,016 66 6), Mao demanded the elimination of Hubei 117 27 5,099 83 spatial inequality by diverting resources Hunan 116 27 4,118 67 from east coast regions to inland re- Western 27 6 3,469 56 gions in accordance with the notion of a Sichuan 39 9 3,688 60 socialist ideological commitment to Guizhou 9 2 2,025 33 equality. The strategy of the plan was Yunnan 16 4 3,690 60 mainly implemented by state investment Xizang 0 0 2,654 43 in capital construction, based on an ide- Shaanxi 92 22 3,317 54 ological concern for spatial equality Gansu 36 9 2,895 47 and geo-political responses to national Qinghai 2 0 3,762 61 defence considerations, arising from a Ningxia 11 2 3,716 61 perceived international threat. State in- Xingjiang 38 9 5,478 89 vestment thus became the main strategy used to largely equalise regional eco- National average 467 100 6,123 100 nomic development during the Mao era. Source: Elaborated from SSB, 1997a However, this development model did Table 4: Regional per capita FDI and GDP in not result in the achievement of regional China, 1996 (RMB). equality. Therefore, this section explains the historical context of the failure of Mao’s development model as the back- dong was 4 to 6 times the national av- convergence during the Mao era. The ground to the introduction of FDI. erage. By contrast, inward FDI per following section highlights the histori- To reveal a general trend of regional capita in most central and western re- cal pattern of regional policy for re- transformation, the coefficient of varia- gions was less than 10 per cent of the gional convergence. tion (hereafter CV) [5] of per capita re- national average. gional state investment and per capita To sum up, the integration of former in- regional industrial output is calculated dustrial space in some eastern regions 3 The Strategy of Regional for the period from 1953 to 1996. In and the new institutional arrangements Economic Convergence and the absence of data pre-1949, an for attracting foreign investment has fa- Regional Development During the overview of regional inequality is given cilitated rapid changes in the eastern Mao Era for this period. Fig. 1 represents the pat- region, while weaknesses inherent in ar- The central government of China played tern of regional inequality between eas lacking any significant form of in- a critical role in regional economic de- 1953 and 1996. The CV represented in dustrial base or policies that lead to eco- velopment in the Mao period. The eco- fig. 1 is based on data in current rather nomic enhancement have seen the cen- nomic programmes of state socialism in than constant prices because time-series tral and western regions fall even further China were explicitly oriented towards of provincial price indices are not avail- behind the east in development terms, the eradication of the regional inequali- able. The provincial analysis is based as the gulf between the regions has ties arising from the earlier concentra- on State Statistical Bureau (SSB) data widened in modern times. The contem- tion of foreign investment in the eastern and provincial statistical data for 1953 porary geography of China, therefore, region. [4] Mao inherited this regional to 1992. Data for Tibet province is omit- hints at a high degree of regional frag- inequality from pre-1949 days. Most of ted because data for the province is mentation. However, it needs to be the developed areas were in the east poor in both quality and availability. placed within the context of the general and 70 per cent of the assets and output Hainan province is aggregated as it has tendency towards regional economic of Chinese industries originated in large only been recognised in a separate DISP 151 34 2002

Mao Post-Mao Output per capita

State investment per capita

output inequality. However, the failure 1st FYP Great Leap Third Front Economic Economic reform Forward Construction adjustment of the next development model, the Great Leap Forward, due to famine in the interior between 1959 and 1961, Fig. 1: Regional inequality in China, increased it again. 1953 to 1996. The second major development model Source: Elaborated from Huseh, Qiang and Shucheng, 1993; SSB, 1991 to 1997a was the “Third Front Construction” programme [6] between 1965 and 1971, which was devoted to preparing for war provincial unit since 1988. Therefore, (fig. 1). The first period, 1953 to 1964, in a geo-political response to a rising in- the provincial analysis includes 28 covered the First Five-Year Plan (FYP) ternational threat. As relations between provinces. and the Great Leap Forward and its af- the United States and the former Soviet Trends in output per capita depend on termath, which successfully reduced the Union deteriorated in the early 1960s, the relationship between output and level of regional inequality. The second, and the United States became em- population growth. The explanation of 1965 to 1971, was the Third Front pe- braced in the turmoil of the Vietnam war variations in the growth of regional in- riod, when there was a concentration of in 1966, China’s perception of interna- dustrial output per capita can be differ- heavy industries input in the inland re- tional threat grew. entiated from regional population gion. The third period, 1972 to 1977, In addition, concerns about national growth, which depends on natural in- marked a crisis in the pathway of eco- security arose from Chinese border creases and migration. During the nomic convergence with programmes clashes with Russia due to the ensuing Maoist regime, there was a general de- for economic adjustment. deployment of a substantial number of cline in state investment inequality, First of all, a strategy aimed at re- Soviet troops in Mongolia in response to while there was little fluctuation at the gional equality began as early as the the mutual defence treaty signed by level of regional output inequality. first FYP between 1953 and 1957. Dur- both countries in 1966 (Ma and Wei, Maoist redistributive policies led to par- ing the first FYP, the central government 1997:220). The threat of war led China adoxical results, contributing, it seems, promised to give serious attention to to construct three different strategic to the rise in inequality. This implies the backward inland regions through the fronts, which represented a clear de- limits of Mao’s development model for provision of state investment. Financial fence-oriented strategy. This model ad- reducing regional economic uneven- remittances were channelled from more vocated the construction of new and ness. One of the reasons why was that developed regions to less developed in- large-scale heavy industries, such as this measure encouraged relatively land regions. In order to achieve this, iron, steel and military machinery in the rapid population growth in the less de- large cities in the less developed re- third front that were less vulnerable to veloped parts of China. gions were permitted to retain most of foreign attack. During this period more The process of regional transforma- their revenue and further subsidies were than two thousand large and medium- tion can be divided into three periods also given (Lardy, 1975). In this way, sized industrial, research and educa- the allocation of state investment for re- tional projects were built, giving rise to gional development in the interior re- 45 new production centres and 30 new Fig. 2a+b: Regional distribution of state in- gion increased significantly from 48.2 industrial cities (Ma and Wei, 1997: vestment in capital construction in state- owned enterprises and industrial output in per cent in 1953 to 59.7 per cent of to- 220). As a result, between 1964 and China, 1953 to 1977. tal state investment in 1956 (fig. 2a). It 1970, state investment in the interior in- Source: Elaborated from Huseh, Qiang and contributed to a reduction in regional creased dramatically from 58.5 of total Shucheng, 1993

60 70

50 60 Eastern Eastern 50 40

40 30 Central 30 Central

20 Western 20 as % of industrial output

as % of state investment 10 Western 10

0 0 1953 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 1953 55 57 59 61 63 65 67 69 71 73 75 77 DISP 151 35 2002

Annual average growth rate

1953–1957 1957–1964 1964–1971

Population RGIO Population RGIO Population RGIO

Eastern 3.3 11.3 2.8 6.7 1.8 10.6 Beijing 9.3 13.2 9.2 11.6 0.3 10.0 Tianjin 3.4 10.8 2.5 4.4 0.7 10.1 Hebei 2.3 8.8 1.2 5.9 2.1 13.2 Liaoning 4.0 12.3 1.9 5.4 2.0 8.6 transportation system, following the Shanghai 2.8 6.5 6.5 7.2 -0.3 7.7 Maoist notion of “self-reliance” or “self- Jiangsu 2.3 8.0 1.1 7.3 2.3 12.8 sufficiency” (Fan, 195:423). Zhejiang 2.5 14.5 2.0 9.0 2.4 8.4 Fujian 2.7 11.4 2.3 6.9 2.9 10.2 This discouraged the integration of in- Shandong 2.2 13.3 0.6 4.3 2.3 13.2 dustrial production into other locations. Guangdong 2.5 12.0 1.8 7.6 2.6 8.2 Because of this, regional output did not Guangxi 2.1 13.2 1.4 3.7 2.9 14.7 increase as fast as state investment in less developed areas. Inequalities in Central 2.9 13.7 2.1 10.1 2.9 10.4 output per head also did not diminish, Shanxi 2.7 18.8 2.0 11.2 2.4 9.4 despite the decline in the gap of state in- Inner Mongolia 5.3 22.7 4.2 18.5 3.1 4.3 vestment inequality. Jilin 2.4 11.2 3.5 9.5 2.6 8.7 One of the reasons, however, for the Heilongjiang 5.4 8.3 4.7 9.9 3.5 8.9 failure to induce greater equality was Anhui 2.1 16.8 –0.7 6.6 3.5 12.0 differentiated population growth in the Jiangxi 2.2 9.9 2.1 8.4 3.0 12.4 western and eastern regions. During this Henan 2.2 8.4 0.7 9.5 2.8 14.9 period (1964 to 1971), the annual av- Hubei 2.2 14.5 1.6 8.7 2.7 10.8 erage population growth in the central Hunan 1.8 13.0 0.7 9.2 2.8 12.4 and western regions was higher than in Western 3.3 13.9 1.5 5.0 3.4 10.7 the eastern region, pulling the growth in Sichuan 2.1 16.2 –0.4 4.4 3.1 10.7 output per capita downward while the Guizhou 2.5 12.5 0.6 5.4 3.6 13.6 annual average growth of regional in- Yunnan 2.3 15.5 1.4 5.4 3.1 9.9 dustrial output in the central and west- Xizang n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. 2.0 n.a. ern regions was similar to that in the Shaanxi 2.8 10.7 2.2 4.2 2.4 12.0 eastern region (table 5). For example, Gansu 3.3 12.4 0.4 3.9 3.4 10.7 the annual average growth of Beijing, Qinghai 5.6 21.9 0.9 2.8 4.3 11.1 Tianjin and Shanghai in the eastern re- Ningxia 4.3 9.9 2.6 8.6 4.1 13.3 gion was 0.3, 0.7 and –0.3 per cent re- Xingjiang 3.9 12.7 4.1 5.3 4.4 4.5 spectively in 1964 to 1971, while in Qinghai, Ningxia, and Xingiang in the China 2.5 11.2 1.4 6.9 2.7 10.1 western region it was 4.3, 4.1 and 4.4 per cent respectively (table 5). log(At/Ao) Note: The calculation way of annual average growth rate is as follows g = t Finally, as the international threats dis- t denotes time appeared in the early 1970s, China’s Ao denotes initial year value top leadership promoted a shift of state At denotes ﬁ nal year value. investment into the eastern region. As Source: Elaborated from Hsueh, Li and Liu, 1993 and SSB, 1990 to1997a fig. 2a indicates, for example, after the Table 5: Trends in regional gross industrial out- abandonment of Three Front Construc- put and population in China, 1953 to 1996. tion, state investment in the eastern region increased significantly from 30.6 per cent of total state investment state investment to 70.9 per cent (fig. location and (2) the production system in 1971 to 44.4 per cent in 1977, 2a). In particular, it was concentrated in of invested industries. The location of whereas in the western region it de- the western region, which accounted for construction was based on the premise creased from 34.2 to 20.6 per cent. It 40.3 per cent of total state investment in of geographical isolation: mountains shows that the end of defence-oriented 1967. and caves were preferred, since these strategies resulted in a crisis on the path It represented a pathway towards in- minimised the effect of possible bomb- to convergence in both state investment dustrialisation, especially in backward ing. This industrialisation in the remote and regional output. It is the result of the rural economies, which rapidly estab- regions resulted in heavy costs and eco- process of regional economic develop- lished a heavy industrial base by way of nomic inefficiencies. It also led to a lack ment implemented by the historical mo- preparing for the international threat. of agglomeration economies and infra- del of development under the Maoist Notwithstanding the concentration of structure in the production systems as regimes, which created a mis-match be- state investment in the interior, the distri- the backward region was lacking tech- tween regional economic structure and bution of regional gross industrial output nology and human resources. Branches the production system. (RGIO) in the western region remained and workshops were located in different steady with few fluctuations (fig. 2b). regions for the same reason, and each Two factors explain this outcome; (1) the branch unit was complete with its own DISP 151 36 2002

4 Inward Investment and Regional (FTZs) in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shan- has reinforced regional fragmentation, Economic Fragmentation in the dong in the late 1980s accelerated the while the contribution of FDI to regional Post-Mao Era impact of FDI on regional economic de- GDP, especially in central and western A key theme in the last regional policy velopment. Because of this fast growth regions, has been limited. for economic convergence under Mao’s and great contribution of FDI to regional Nonetheless, fig. 1 shows that re- rule was national economic collapse. GDP in a few provinces, as shown in gional inequality in the post-Mao period For example, per capita GDP in 1978 table 6, the low contribution of FDI to re- appears contradictory. Some statistics was at a similar level to mid 1950s’ lev- gional GDP in the central and western hint that regional output is converging, els (Perkins, 1994:23). In addition, the regions has been seen as much less cen- despite the fact that regional state in- eastern region was still producing some tral to the restructuring of their econo- vestment has diverged. Many commen- 60 per cent of China’s GIO in 1978 mies. The geographical pattern of FDI in tators have tried to describe this appar- (see fig. 3). This continued underdevel- China suggests that the integration of ent contradiction (Lakshimanan and opment during the Maoist period led to foreign capital activities into the new Hua 1987; Lo 1990; Tusi 1991; Lyons the new policy of economic and re- industrial zones in the eastern region 1991; Wei 1993; Huo 1994; Fan gional development through China’s opening-up to the world economy. This development was implemented through the establishment of new regional FDI as % of GDP spaces to attract foreign business enter- 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1996 prises. This transition to capitalism resulted in a new form of regional un- Eastern 0.86 2.72 4.41 7.66 14.79 26.76 30.29 evenness during the post-Mao regimes. Beijing 1.01 3.92 9.66 15.03 18.07 30.89 34.53 Tianjin 0.93 4.07 4.43 7.80 13.15 34.12 44.57 In this section, the process of regional Hebei 0.06 0.21 0.46 0.97 2.40 5.20 6.27 fragmentation is identified, first by Liaoning 0.15 0.92 1.72 4.61 8.12 17.04 19.57 briefly charting the fragmentation of the Shanghai 0.68 3.21 6.09 8.60 25.50 35.48 41.25 regional economy, and then by consid- Jiangsu 0.15 0.64 1.36 2.52 9.73 22.71 22.85 ering the regional implications of FDI on Zhejiang 0.19 0.57 0.89 1.61 4.82 9.48 11.07 the Chinese economy. Fujian 1.82 3.40 6.65 13.01 29.57 52.47 56.30 The main point here is that foreign Shandong 0.17 0.75 1.32 2.41 7.67 14.92 16.14 capital has played a critical role in Chi- Guangdong 3.45 10.37 13.87 24.95 35.02 57.27 65.12 nese regional fragmentation along with Guangxi n.a 1.91 2.15 2.73 8.59 14.77 15.57 the establishment of new industrial Central 0.08 0.30 0.55 0.87 4.44 5.14 5.94 zones in the eastern region. For exam- Shanxi 0.01 0.08 0.23 0.33 1.38 2.02 2.57 ple, the level of FDI in 1996 in the west- Inner Mongolia 0.05 0.32 0.38 0.56 1.39 2.27 2.52 ern region was only 2.1 per cent of total Jilin 0.07 0.48 0.59 1.21 3.66 8.18 9.68 FDI and the share of the central region Heilongjiang 0.03 0.37 1.09 1.41 2.50 5.75 6.76 amounted to only 9.7 per cent of total Anhui 0.03 0.37 0.51 0.82 2.23 5.28 6.30 FDI, while the eastern region accounted Jiangxi 0.15 0.26 0.53 0.75 3.01 5.56 6.19 for 88.2 per cent of total FDI (calculated Henan 0.05 0.20 0.65 0.98 19.00 3.94 4.37 from SSB, 1997:608). The significant Hubei 0.06 0.33 0.52 1.02 3.72 7.49 7.91 growth and concentration of FDI in the Hunan 0.23 0.32 0.45 0.74 3.09 5.79 7.12 eastern region has added to the impor- Western 0.07 0.40 0.67 0.92 1.49 3.08 3.22 tance of foreign capital in regional Sichuan 0.14 0.43 0.56 0.98 2.57 5.67 5.60 economies. In particular, because FDI Guizhou 0.23 0.49 0.71 1.24 1.83 3.45 3.28 has been concentrated in new industrial Yunnan 0.03 0.21 0.33 0.40 1.22 2.26 2.19 zones, its impact on the regional econ- Xizang 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 omy is significant. This is clearly seen in Shaanxi 0.25 2.00 3.71 4.71 5.95 10.55 11.19 the contribution of FDI to GDP in Fujian Gansu 0.01 0.05 0.10 0.23 0.37 2.65 3.09 and Guangdong provinces, where new Qinghai 0.00 0.00 0.17 0.19 0.35 0.54 0.53 industrial spaces are concentrated Ningxia 0.00 0.00 0.02 0.06 0.72 1.19 1.28 (table 6). For example, the contribution Xingjiang 0.00 0.45 0.41 0.46 0.39 1.39 1.81 of FDI to both regions’ GDP was 56.3 Note: The figure in the table is the degree of contribution of accumulated FDI on GDP. The amount of accumulated and 65.1 per cent respectively in 1996. FDI is converted from US$ into RMB using ofﬁcial current exchange rates taken from SSB Also, the establishment of the new Source: Calculated from SSB, 1985 to 1997a Pudong SEZ in Shanghai in 1992, and Table 6: Trends in the regional contribution of OCCs, EDTZs, and free trade zones FDI to GDP in China, 1985 to 1996. DISP 151 37 2002

Industrial Employ- 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1993 1995 1996 Trend1 Production %2 ment %3

Eastern 211.0 214.0 201.9 195.4 189.4 184.6 187.9 181.9 179.0 17.9 3.0 Beijing 373.9 375.0 362.9 325.8 299.4 299.4 261.7 186.8 167.8 ⇓ C 13.3 1.0 Tianjin 407.6 417.5 396.0 365.6 332.2 323.4 290.9 272.3 287.0 ⇓ C 15.1 0.4 Hebei 76.9 69.8 67.4 72.3 76.4 76.2 79.6 76.0 88.7 ↑ C 17.4 4.4 Liaoning 198.0 201.9 192.1 193.7 188.4 174.2 167.0 148.9 155.2 ↓ C 15.0 1.0 Shandong 74.7 74.9 77.1 81.8 88.4 102.7 132.8 119.0 119.1 C↑ D 19.6 5.0 Shanghai 845.4 825.9 734.5 653.9 585.1 521.6 474.3 443.8 407.1 ⇓ C 12.7 -0.5 Jiangsu 112.7 127.8 128.1 151.3 170.4 167.0 195.9 204.7 185.3 ⇑ D 23.3 1.8 Zhejiang 71.7 93.8 97.8 125.9 141.2 138.3 179.1 229.3 231.6 C ⇑ D 21.8 2.8 Fujian 49.8 52.7 51.6 58.8 64.4 73.6 94.4 105.9 112.2 C ⇑ D 19.0 5.8 Guangdong 72.7 78.5 79.2 86.8 102.6 119.4 152.4 170.0 172.5 C ⇑ D 22.0 5.7 Guangxi 37.4 36.4 34.7 33.1 35.1 34.3 39.2 44.9 43.1 ↑ C 17.8 5.8

Central 69.1 68.4 71.0 70.0 70.5 66.9 58.4 61.4 65.0 16.8 3.2 Shanxii 84.4 79.0 85.4 83.6 77.0 76.7 69.9 69.8 75.4 ↓ D 16.4 2.8 Inner Mongolia 53.0 49.6 54.4 49.9 49.5 50.0 44.8 41.9 46.4 ↓ D 16.0 2.7 Jilin 98.5 94.4 100.2 102.8 104.3 96.3 77.8 67.5 67.1 ↓ D 14.5 2.2 Heilongjiang 125.0 121.4 122.0 108.9 112.1 100.0 73.6 72.9 72.6 ⇓ D 13.4 2.0 Anhui 42.6 42.5 45.0 49.6 50.8 50.1 50.8 64.3 68.0 ↑ C 19.6 4.6 Jiangxi 44.2 46.9 45.3 48.3 49.4 48.0 45.4 38.9 37.1 ↓ D 16.1 3.1 Henan 46.2 46.7 46.7 48.0 50.8 50.6 52.5 63.5 65.6 ↑ C 19.5 5.8 Hubei 74.3 81.3 87.3 87.4 87.7 81.0 67.5 87.0 94.7 ↑ C 18.7 1.9 Hunan 54.0 54.0 53.1 51.5 53.6 49.4 43.8 47.0 58.2 – 17.4 4.4

Western 52.5 46.0 49.0 49.1 46.9 47.7 41.2 41.3 37.4 12.9 3.0 Sichuan 44.6 43.7 45.9 48.1 47.3 46.8 48.9 47.9 41.6 – 16.2 3.9 Guizhou 28.4 24.1 29.2 30.5 27.9 27.7 21.5 19.4 20.2 ↓ D 15.1 3.4 Yunnan 34.0 34.6 37.9 36.8 34.9 36.4 34.2 37.0 36.4 – 17.5 2.2 Shaanxi 64.4 58.4 59.1 59.0 56.9 55.6 45.4 41.2 39.9 ↓ D 11.3 1.8 Gansu 72.7 59.0 58.6 57.0 51.2 50.1 41.1 41.4 38.6 ⇓ D 10.6 4.6 Qinghai 60.1 48.6 50.5 49.9 49.4 53.6 38.7 37.7 32.5 ↓ D 8.8 0.9 Ningxia 66.2 48.5 53.2 53.3 51.7 55.7 46.2 47.0 44.0 ↓ D 11.6 3.8 Xinjiang 49.3 51.1 57.6 58.3 55.8 56.2 53.7 59.1 45.8 – 12.4 3.3

Average 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 17.3 3.3

Note 1: Trend of GIO indices from 1979 to 1996, and of FDI indices from 1985 to 1996 ↑ increased by more than 5 – stable trend with little change ↓ decreased by more than 5 C converging to national average ⇑ increased by more than 50 D diverging from the national average ⇓ decreased by more than 50 Note 2: Growth rate of RGIO is based on the period from 1978 to 1996 Note 3: The annual growth rate of the number of regional employed is based on the period from 1985 to 1996

Source: Elaborated from Hsueh, Li and Liu, 1993 and SSB, 198 to 1997a

Table 7: Trends of per capita regional gross industrial output, 1979 to 1996.

1995; Ma and Wei 1997). Fan (1995: vinces, it does not explain the extent to post-Mao era despite the concentration 427 to 428) suggested that these con- which regions within specific provinces of economic development strategies on tradictory findings are the result of vari- diverge or converge within the Chinese the eastern region (see fig. 1). First, ations in analysis. By using different regional economy. Therefore, it is nec- there was economic development though overlapping time periods, the ef- essary to carry out analysis at both across the whole of the eastern region. fect of scale can produce different re- country and city levels, but it is difficult Of an estimated average national per sults, reflecting real divergence in the to reveal regional inequality at the city capita RGIO for 1979, as can be seen trends of the different variables. Fan ar- levels due to the paucity of time serial in table 7, there were only six provinces gued, therefore, that there is a need for data. Therefore, this section focuses on that recorded above average per capita a finer scale analysis, perhaps an intra- the extent to which regions have frag- RGIO, while 8 provinces were below provincial analysis. Analysis of a spe- mented as a result of inward FDI in the half the national average. Two decades cific province with significantly higher level of inter-provincial inequality analy- later, 9 provinces were above the na- or lower growth than other provinces is sis, although there are certain limits to tional average per capita regional often more revealing than the analysis analysing the level of regional fragmen- RGIO in the eastern region, while 11 of overall inequality. However, although tation. provinces were less than half the na- this may provide evidence of clear There are four general factors that re- tional average. Secondly, the existing regional inequality within specific produced regional inequality during the developed industrial region has under- DISP 151 38 2002

Employment creation and exports by foreign enterprises, in percent

Employment Export

1993 1994 1995 1996 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996

Eastern 3.5 4.7 5.6 5.9 17.0 24.3 25.9 27.7 38.0 Beijing 3.6 4.9 5.7 6.2 10.6 12.5 12.8 11.9 19.5 Tianjin 2.9 4.8 6.5 6.7 12.1 24.9 33.5 44.8 63.0 Hebei 1.1 1.5 2.0 2.1 5.8 11.1 14.6 13.1 22.7 Liaoning 1.0 1.7 2.3 2.2 18.8 28.0 31.4 33.4 43.5 strongest in the open regional econo- Shanghai 4.3 4.8 6.4 7.6 14.6 23.5 26.8 30.6 41.5 mies of the southeastern region (Guang- Jiangsu 2.1 3.7 3.8 4.2 17.9 27.9 29.7 29.2 42.4 dong, Fujian, Zhejiang and Shandong Zhejiang 3.0 3.7 4.2 3.9 12.0 20.1 15.9 13.4 23.4 province). For example, in 1979 per Fujian 10.0 13.8 14.1 15.6 46.9 51.5 47.2 43.7 53.3 capita RGIO in Fujian and Shandong Shandong 1.3 2.0 3.6 3.6 9.0 19.1 24.4 28.1 38.5 was only 49.8 and 74.7 per cent of the Guangdong 8.2 9.2 11.4 11.4 31.6 38.2 37.3 43.6 51.2 national average respectively. One and Guangxi 1.2 1.4 1.8 1.8 8.0 10.2 10.9 13.3 19.0 a half decades later, these provinces Central 0.6 0.9 1.0 1.1 2.7 6.2 7.2 8.1 12.8 recorded annual average growth rates Shanxi 0.8 1.1 0.6 0.7 0.7 5.9 7.2 6.4 7.2 of 19.0 and 19.6 per cent respectively Jilin 0.7 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.2 4.4 8.5 17.2 24.1 in 1978 to 1996, all of which helped to Heilongjiang 0.4 0.8 1.0 1.0 1.0 2.5 3.9 5.4 8.0 create more employment. Also, Guang- Anhui 0.4 0.7 1.1 1.0 4.4 7.8 7.5 7.3 11.9 dong and Zhejiang underwent rapid Jiangxi 0.6 0.7 0.9 0.8 3.1 7.1 6.6 5.2 7.6 growth, experiencing annual average Henan 0.6 1.1 1.5 1.6 3.3 7.7 8.7 7.9 15.5 growth rates of 22 and 21.8 per cent in Hubei 0.7 1.0 1.2 1.2 5.6 10.5 10.3 10.3 20.2 1978 to 1996. It shows that the greatest Hunan 0.5 0.5 0.8 0.7 2.2 3.9 5.0 5.0 8.0 degree of industrial change has been Western 0.3 0.5 0.6 0.7 2.1 3.8 4.3 4.8 9.0 witnessed in the new regional industrial Sichuan 0.4 0.3 0.7 0.8 3.0 6.5 0.1 4.5 7.3 zones, especially the relatively pre- Guizhou 0.4 0.7 0.7 0.7 2.7 2.4 7.0 7.1 10.8 backward regions of the east, where Yunnan 0.2 0.4 0.7 0.8 2.6 3.4 2.8 2.9 4.2 rapid growth in response to foreign cap- Tibet 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 5.6 2.5 10.5 ital investment is now inherent. Shaanxi 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.6 3.7 4.6 5.2 4.0 8.5 Regional fragmentation as a result of Gansu 0.5 0.2 0.7 0.6 1.1 6.1 4.5 5.6 8.6 attracting FDI can be found in the levels Qinghai 0.1 0.6 0.3 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 5.1 7.3 of the regional share of the labour force Ningxia 0.4 2.0 1.6 1.6 0.9 3.8 6.0 5.4 12.3 by foreign enterprises and the global in- Xinjiang 0.4 0.2 0.6 0.6 5.1 5.5 7.5 5.8 11.1 tegration of the regional economies China 1.6 2.5 2.9 2.7 20.4 31.3 28.7 31.3 40.7 through export-led foreign enterprise activities. The regional impact of foreign Source: Calculated from SSB, 1993–1997a, and SSB, 1994b investment on employment is uneven, al- Table 8: Trends in regional employment and though the proportion of employment export by foreign investors in China. creation by foreign investors is diminu- tive, accounting for only 2.7 per cent of urban employment in 1996 (table 8). gone slow growth. Five of the six devel- What is more, annual average growth However, the proportion of employment oped provinces in 1979 were down- rates of 17.3 per cent in total industrial creation as a result of foreign investment wardly converging in per capita RGIO. production and 3.3 per cent in employ- in the open coastal regions, where new This trend towards convergence could ment occurred between 1978 and industrial spaces are concentrated, is explain the overall decline in inter- 1996, and between 1985 and 1996 significant. For example, in Guangdong provincial inequality. In particular, the respectively (table 7). However, the ge- and Fujian, where SEZs are located, it rapid downward convergence in the ographical subtext to this improvement accounted for 11.4 and 15.6 per cent three municipalities, Beijing, Shanghai is the inequality of the huge steps China of total urban employment in 1996, and Tianjin, which constitute the highest has taken towards development. The an- whereas employment by foreign firms in level of wealth in the Chinese economy, nual growth rate of industrial production the inland regions accounted for less could alone produce this trend. Thirdly, in Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai has than one per cent. there has been rapid economic growth been lower than the national annual av- What is more, foreign investment has in the underdeveloped eastern region. erage growth rate, accounting for 13.3, not only influenced employment, but Four of five underdeveloped provinces – 15.1 and 12.7 per cent respectively also foreign trade at the regional level. Guangdong, Zhejiang, Shandong, and (table 7). This is the result of the concen- The influence of FDI on trade has in- Fujian – have gone through rapid up- tration of investment and industrialisa- creased rapidly, mirroring the rapid ward divergence in per capita RGIO. tion in the emerging new regional growth in FDI in the early 1990s. Ex- This is closely linked to the concentra- economies, although they have still ports by foreign enterprises have had a tion of new industrial zones in these re- maintained the highest levels of per significant effect on China’s export fig- gions, accompanying significant indus- capita RGIO over other provinces. The ures, accounting for 40.7 per cent of to- trialisation and substantial growth in growth in industrial production and em- tal Chinese exports in 1996 (table 8). employment. ployment between 1979 and 1996 was More specifically in Tianjin, Guang- DISP 151 39 2002

dong and Fujian provinces, over 50 per fragmentation of the Chinese economy. FDI is concentrated on these regions are cent of total regional exports could be First, there is a set of new industrial (1) geo-governance based on ethnic net- traced to foreign investment, contrasting regions in which FDI has been con- work [8] between Guangdong/Fujian sharply with the inland regions, where it centrated. These regions created new and Hong Kong/Taiwan, and (2) neigh- accounted for less than 10 per cent. This economic structures and institutional bouring economies based on geograph- indicates that the integration of new in- arrangements to attract and co-ordinate ical proximity between Shandong and dustrial regions in certain eastern foreign enterprises. This led to a higher Korea (see Lee 2001 for the detail dis- coastal regions into the global economy level of industrialisation and improved cussion of geo-governance and neigh- is dominated by the activities of foreign export-led growth in these regions. This, bouring economies in China). Secondly, business enterprise. As a result, the de- in turn, has produced a higher level of the technology of foreign investors gree of global integration in these re- employment creation with an increasing should be integrated into the regional gions has increased significantly, ac- dependency on the global economy. economy on the basis of a regional companying the dramatic growth in re- Secondly, there is a group of existing industrial competitive advantage. The gional exports. Exports by foreign enter- developed industrial regions such as strategy for regional development prise have further helped to develop the Tianjin, Shanghai, Beijing and Liaoning through the introduction of FDI in China regional economies in which they are Province, whose economic structure has has not based on the regional competi- based by earning foreign currency. In- undergone adjustment, often through in- tive advantage industry, but focused on ward investment in China and the provi- ward FDI. Finally, there is a large group the enrichment of technology and man- sion of platforms for foreign firms has of marginalized and increasingly pe- agement methods. It has resulted in the promoted these regional economies. ripheral regional economies in the cen- isolation of foreign investors from the lo- However, unevenness in the allocation tral and the western region which have cal economy due to the lack of appro- of foreign funds in these regions and the experienced underdevelopment, the re- priated suppliers and buyers, and there- polarisation of the activities they gener- sult of adopting the “three economic fore the local economy has faced some ate has led to regional fragmentation belts division of labour” in the seventh limitations in receiving key tacit knowl- and uneven regional economic develop- FYP, which promotes export-led growth edge and technology from foreign in- ment. in the eastern region. Consequently, the vestors (Lee 2001). As a result, the es- divergent pathways created by FDI re- tablishment of CPNs based on regional lated to its strategies of regional devel- characteristics and technology transfer 5. Conclusion opment resulted in regional fragmenta- from FDI aimed at the development of This paper has identified the mode of tion, which is the new form of regional regional competitive advantage indus- development in the Mao period be- inequality. try are critical strategies for sustainable tween 1953 and 1977 as a back- Along with changes in regional struc- regional economic development in the ground of the opening-up policy, and ture towards regional fragmentation, future of China. the nature of the economic development there is a need to consider different model associated with the introduction strategies for regional development, for of inward investment in the post-Mao the consideration of spatial planning period since 1978. In particular, it has and the task of sustainable development emphasised new “regional transforma- in China. First of all, regional cross-bor- tion” from regional equality in the Mao der production networks (CPNs) [7] era to regional fragmentation in the should be established on the basis of re- post-Mao era. After the Mao era, the regional characteristics. The establishment form of the Chinese economy has accel- of CPNs in Guangdong, Fujian and Notes erated mainly through opening up, es- Shandong Provinces is a good example. [1] Mao’s bias against foreign capital can be pecially to foreign investment. The his- According to the statistics of Chinese seen in his manifesto in the National People’s torical policies of Mao’s economic de- foreign economic relations and trade Congress. He stated that “ours is an inde- velopment neglected the institutional (CFERT) (1998), FDI in Shandong is pendent and sovereign socialist state. We arrangements of the region, regional dominated by Korea, accounting for have never allowed, nor will we ever allow, economic structures and production sys- 27.3 per cent of total inward FDI in foreign capital to invest in our country. We tems, leading to regional isolation and Shandong, and in Guangdong is domi- have never joined capitalist countries in ex- recession. Therefore, this paper argues nated by Hong Kong, accounting for ploring our natural resources: nor will we explore other countries’ resources. We never that the introduction of FDI was a result over 54.8 per cent in 1996. In Fujian, did, nor will we ever, embark on joint ven- of the limits of Mao’s economic devel- although FDI from Hong Kong still domi- tures with foreign capitalists.” (cited from Red opment model. nated, the proportion of Taiwanese FDI Flag, Beijing, March, 1977). During the post-Mao era, the increase in increased significantly from 14 per cent [2] It includes Shanghai municipality, Tianjin FDI has led to a set of regional path- in 1992 to 33.3 per cent in 1996. The municipality, Dailian and Qinhuangdao in ways which underlie the contemporary main reasons why a particular country’s Liaoning province; Yantai, Qingdao and DISP 151 40 2002

Lianyungang in Sandong Province; Nantong duced by Sum (1997) in the context of cross- ment in Post-Mao China. In: Annuals of and Ningbo in Jiangsu; Wensu in Zhejiang border regional modes of growth as provid- the American Geographers, 85(3), pp. province; Fuzhou in Fujian province; ing a mode of co-ordination mediated by a 421–449. Guangzhou, Zhangjiang and Beihai in multi-layered network of social relations. It in- GRIFFIN, K., KHAN, A.R. (1994): The Chi- Guangdong Province. volves a new spatially specific structure of so- nese Transition to a Market-guided Economy: [3] The US $ figure for 1996 assumes an ex- cial co-ordination for a more or less coherent the Contrast with Russia and Eastern Europe. change rate of RMB 8.27 = US$ 1. mode of growth. Especially, Sum (1997: In: Contention, 3(20), pp. 85–107. [4] Foreign investment in China began with 160–164) refers to emerging global tenden- the establishment of the British East India cies which are significant in the triad growth HAYTER, R., HAN, S. (1998): Reflection on Company in Guangzhou in 1715. Subse- poles and their various modes of regional China’s Open Policy Towards Foreign Direct quent expansion concentrated along east growth in four aspects: (1) the financial time- Investment. In: Regional Studies, 32, pp. coast regions such as Shanghai, Guang- space moment of mode of growth structured 1–16. zhou, Fuzhou, Xianmen and Ningbo be- by the practices of networks of multinational HUSEH, T., QIANG, L., SHUCHENG, L. tween the 1840s and 1850s as a result of banks and trans-local organisations; (2) in- (1993): China’s Provincial Statistics, 1949– the Opium Wars, resulted in opening several dustrial and technological time-space mo- 1989. Westview Press. treaty ports. 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Sustainable Development in the Rapidly Growing Socialist Market Economy of Shenzhen Bottom-up Efforts and Top-down Policies

In just 22 years, Shenzhen, China’s first Special Economic Zone, has accomplished impressive economic and environmental achievements. Population in the small border town has grown over 13 times, the size of the city expanded 23 times and GDP grew 731 times. Today the four million city has set aside 76 per cent of its land as green lungs and 45 per cent of the built-up areas are planted with trees. The city won numerous environmental awards and became a laure- ate of this year’s UNEP Global 500 Roll of Honour. Determination to build a “gar- Fig. 1: Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and den city”, keen competition for foreign Longgan and Bao’an Districts. direct investment and the Central Govern- 45 ment’s firm commitment towards sustain- 40 able development have shaped Shen- 35 zhen’s path towards sustainability. Al- 30 though the City still has a long way to go 25 20 to attain socio-economic and environ- Sq.km. 15 mental sustainability, Shenzhen definitely 10 has the potential to become a model for 5 China’s evolving local socialist market 0 economies in pursuing sustainable devel- al ties ares Others Storage Tourist opment. Industrial Residenti Open Space Commercial Public Utilities External Comm. University/R&A community facili Road & Public Squ First MLP Public & 1 Introduction: Shenzhen – Land-Uses Second MLP “An Instant City” Third MLP Today’s Shenzhen is situated within the N old Bao’an County. When the Bao’an Fig. 2: Land-use distributions in the three Sources: Master Layout Plans. County was set up in the fourth century, 1982 First Master Layout Plan: Yeh, 1985, Note: While the planning area of the Third pp. 108 to 130 it spanned over today’s Shenzhen, Master Layout Plan includes the whole of 1986 Second Master Layout Plan: Urban Dongguan, Zhongshan, Zhuhai and Shenzhen, figures here refer to land areas Planning Bureau of the Shenzhen & CAUPD, Hong Kong (Shenzhen Museum, 1999, within the original SSEZ for meaningful com- 1986, p. 14 p.3). The name “Shenzhen” did not ap- parison. 2000 Third Master Layout Plan: SMG, 1997, pear in historical documents until the p. 35 17th century when the Qing Dynasty government built defence towers in Bao’an and named one of them as Revolution from 1966 to 1976. Its prox- cial Economic Zones (SEZs). Built upon Shenzhen (op. cit. 1999, p.6). In imity to the then British Colony of Hong the old Bao’an County-level city with 1911, when the Kowloon Canton Rail- Kong [1] made Bao’an County the only 20,000 population in an area of 3 way was built between Hong Kong and largest source of illegal immigrants to km2, Shenzhen has been transformed Guangzhou, a small station was set up the rapidly urbanising and industrialis- into a city of over 4 million population in Shenzhen. After the setting up of the ing capitalist haven since the 1950s. [2] straddling an area of 2,020 km2. People’s Republic of China in 1949, However, things have changed dra- When it was first established, Shenzhen Shenzhen, similar to the rest of the coun- matically since the late 1970s. In 1980, consisted of a Special Administrative try, had undergone a collectivisation Shenzhen, together with Zhuhai, Shan- Zone and two districts: Longgan and process and went through the Cultural tau, Xiamen, were designated as Spe- Bao’an (fig. 1). From 1980 to 1999, an- DISP 151 43 2002

Year Plan and planning parameters Planning goals and objectives

1982 First Master Layout Plan: Establishment of industrial zones

Major industrial sector: Establishment of residential areas for workers electronics industry Infrastructure construction to attract foreign investment Projected population: Planning: separation of different land-uses about one million by 2000

Projected planning area: p.316). How can these two sides of 118.6 km2 Shenzhen be reconciled? This paper 1986 Second Master Layout Plan: Utilise Shenzhen’s geographical advantages to the aims at understanding how the Shen- utmost for its development into the 21st century: a zhen government has managed rapid Projected population: long-term comprehensive strategy for land- use and economic growth with concomitant envi- 1.1 million by 2000 transport planning. ronmental protection and sustainable Projected planning area: Integrated cluster development with green belts in development. 123 km2 between: for better division of labour and for better Section 2 below reviews the history of Linear development along quality of life in the linear city environmental planning in Shenzhen’s major transportation corridor development. Planning has been instru- Adopting modern planning standards mental in building Shenzhen, a labora- Flexibility in land-use allocation and infrastructure tory for socialist China to carry out eco- provision nomic reforms and to attract foreign investment. Impressed by Singapore’s en- Emphasis on balanced and integrated planning vironment, Shenzhen’s early plans had especially between development and environmental emphasised the need to build a “garden planning city”. One can observe that before Building a city with character 1996, Shenzhen had focused basically on environmental protection. However, 2000 Third Master Layout Plan: A long-term city structure with the Special Economic Zone as the central development axis, accompanied after the publication of China’s Agenda Projected population: by two other development axes in the east and west. 21 in 1994 and the announcement of 4.3 to 5.1 million by 2010 The integrated cluster development in the linear city sustainable development as one of Projected planning area: will continue and be improved. China’s national development strategies 2,020 km2 in the Ninth National Five-Year Plan Rapid development had encroached upon a lot of (1996 to 2000), the rhetoric of sustain- valuable land. Intensifi ed land- uses will be advocated Projected built-up area: able development began to appear in 480 km2 by 2010 to realise “sustainable development”. Shenzhen’s urban land-use plans and lo- (160 km2 within the SSEZ) Building Futian into a fi nancial, commercial, informa- cal socio-economic five-year plans. Plau- tion and tourist hub, facilitating Shenzhen’s participa- sible reasons for the changes in rhetoric tion in the global economy are discussed. Section 4 examines exist- Providing decent housing for residents ing sustainability issues in the city, followed by a conclusion in section 5. To provide high standard, modernised urban infrastructure and facilities to facilitate international exchange and interfl ow 2 Environmental Planning in Creating a pleasant urban environment for leisure Shenzhen’s Development living Unlike other outward processing zones in developing countries where environ- Creating the material basis for a modern cultural city mental protection was neglected, the Sources: Shenzhen Special Economic Zones 1982 First Master Layout Plan: Gu, 1998, p. 89; Lam, 1986 (SSEZ) has since its inception paid close 1986 Second Master Layout Plan: Urban Planning Bureau of the Shenzhen Municipal Government & CAUPD, attention to environmental issues. Short- 1986, pp. 4 to 5 ly after the establishment of the SEZ, an 2000 Third Master Layout Plan: SMG, 1997, pp. 20 to 23 Environmental Protection Office (EPO) Table 1: Planning goals and objectives in the was set up and there had been repeated Master Layout Plans. calls to develop Shenzhen into a “garden city” (Lam, 1986, p.149). Shen- zhen has altogether produced three nual population and GDP growth rates gramme (UNEP) for “its impressive master layout plans. The draft of the first were 13.6 per cent and 31.2 per cent achievement of marrying rapid and as- plan was produced in 1980 and fi- respectively (SSIB, 2000a, p.46). The tonishing economic growth with envi- nalised in 1982. The second master lay- annual industrial growth rate was 45.4 ronmental protection” (Mitchell, 2002). out plan was produced in 1986 and per cent (op. cit. 2000a, p.46). In June However, it was also reported that half modified in 1989. Before the approval 2000, Shenzhen won the Global 500 of Shenzhen’s sea area is polluted (Li, of the third master layout plan in 2000, Roll of Honour award given by the 2002a) and only 54 per cent of urban a draft plan was published in 1996. As United Nations Environmental Pro- sewage is treated (SSIB, 2000b, reflected in the contents of the master DISP 151 44 2002

3 180

160 2.5 140

2 120

100 1.5 80

1 60

40 able development has become the Residents (in millions) 0.5 20 standard term used as part of the city’s development strategy. 0 0 2000

1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2.1 1980s to 1995: Environmental Year Protection amidst Rapid Urbanisation Residents and Industrialisation Temp Resid. In the First Master Layout Plan, major GDP emission sources were allocated far away from the SSEZ and within the Fig. 3: Population growth and gross domestic SSEZ, there were segregation of resi- product in Shenzhen (1979 to 2000). dential and industrial land-uses, and the Source: SSIB, 1999, p. 96 and 2001, p. 90 zoning of twelve per cent of the land as green belts (Lam, 1986, p.150). Envi- ronmental impact assessment then was 100 in place to vet major development proj- 90 ects such as the nuclear power plant at 80 Daya Bay (op. cit., 1986, p.151). It 70 was also reported that the EPO imposed stringent control on polluting industries 60 and had been proactive in developing a

% 50 comprehensive programme of sewage 40 treatment (op. cit., 1986, p.151). 30 In 1983, after a visit to Singapore, the Municipal Government decided to 20 setback the redline for 30 metres to 10 leave space for greenbelts (Shenzhen 0 Museum, 1998, p.54). While the deci-

2 sion disrupted a lot of ongoing projects, 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 199 1994 1996 1998 it helped expand major parks in Shen- Year zhen (op. cit., 1998, p.54). In the same year, the Fairy Lake Botanic Garden Others Domestic loans was set up as a theme park, a showcase Funds raised locally Overseas investment Local government State budget of Shenzhen’s biological diversity fea- Securities turing many rare and endangered plant species (Shenzhen Daily, 2002). In Fig. 4: Financial appropriation of capital con- 1986, when the Second Master Layout struction investment in Shenzhen (1980 to Plan was published, the government 1999). called for environmental protection at Source: SSIB, 2000, p. 192 various fronts. The plan set various rules to ensure good water quality in reser- layout plans made in the past two into integrated clusters with green belts voirs. Pollution problems in Shenzhen decades, Shenzhen has been learning in between. It would pay equal attention and Buji Rivers were discussed and the art of building a “garden city” (table to economic and life spaces (Fried- measures were proposed to enhance 1). This point can also be illustrated by mann, 1988). After the incorporation of river and marine water quality (Planning the changes made in the land-use distri- the Longgan and Bao’an Districts into Bureau, 1986, p.24). Noise pollution butions of the three master layout plans the SSEZ in 1993, Shenzhen began to generated from traffic and construction (fig. 2). plan the whole city into a world class rather than industrial sources was a con- When the SSEZ was first set up, the city of the 21st century. In general, the cern. And the plan also stressed the im- purpose was to build an industrial zone first two master layout plans which coin- portance of environmental monitoring. for foreign investment and to provide lo- cided with Shenzhen’s 7th and 8th Five- Fig. 3 shows the rapid growth of the cal employment. However, since 1986, Year Plans were concerned basically economy and the population. While for- as reflected in the Second Master Layout with environmental protection. How- eign direct investment made up 30 to Plan, Shenzhen had formulated a vision ever, since the 1990s, especially in the 50 per cent of Shenzhen’s capital con- for its development into the 21st century. 1996 draft master layout plan and the struction investment in its first few years The linear city was planned to develop 9th and 10th Five-Year Plans, sustain- of development, the capital went largely DISP 151 45 2002

100%

90%

80% 70%

60%

% 50%

40%

30% 20% omy of Shenzhen was still basically op- 10% erated within a “planned economy”. It 0% was not until 1994 that the linkages between economic activities and the gov- 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 Year ernment’s executive functions were sev- Tertiary Industry ered (Shenzhen Museum, 1998, p. Construction Primary 276), giving rise to a “socialist market economy”. The delinking of economic Fig. 5: Composition of gross domestic product in Shenzhen (1979 to 2000). enterprises from the government, to- Source: SSIB, 2001, p. 91 gether with the introduction of the land and housing markets in the late 1980s had restructured the financial appropri- 3500 ation of capital investment in Shenzhen

3000 and boosted foreign investments (Fig. 4 and 6). The increase of “market ele- 2500 ments” had rendered urban growth and planning less controllable. 2000

1500 2.2 1996 to …: Sustainable USD, millions Development and the Building of a 1000 World-Class City 500 By 1996, Shenzhen was a very different place when compared to 1985 0 when the first industrial district was 0 6 8 ready for occupation. Between 1985 19791980198119821983198419851986198719881989199 19911992199319941995199 1997199 1999 2000 Year and 1996, the population had grown FDI Actually used from 0.81 million to 3.52 million (+435%); gross output value of industry Fig. 6: Foreign direct investment actually used had increased from 2.5 billion yuan to in Shenzhen (1979 to 2000). 143 billion yuan (+579%); fixed asset Source: SSIB, 2002, p. 243 investment grew almost ten times from 3.3 billion yuan to 33.8 billion yuan into real estate development and the waste water treatment rate was 98.1 and local financial revenue and expen- amount dropped steadily afterwards per cent. Marine water and noise pollu- diture in budget increased from 0.63 (fig. 4) (Wong, 1985; Chiu, 1986). tions were rather serious. While solid billion yuan to 13.2 billion yuan In 1985, only three out of the ten wastes were treated within the SSEZ, sit- (+2,095%) (SSIB, 2000, pp. 97, 120, planned industrial estates were ready uations outside it were beyond control, 182, 234). However, throughout these for development (Wong, 1985) and causing serious pollution to surface run- years, there was increasing competition most of the investments were from bu- ning water (op. cit., 1995). While Shen- by the equally rapidly growing Pearl reaux and departments from the Central zhen had 43.9 per cent of its areas River Delta region and other opening Government. Nevertheless, in the ten zoned as green belt and was awarded regions in China. To maintain the mo- years between 1986 and 1995 Shen- China’s Garden City and an Advanced mentum of growth and appeal to further zhen rapidly evolved into an industrial Green City in 1994, illegal construc- foreign investment, the Shenzhen Gov- city. The contribution of industries to tions were found within the green ernment made a bold decision in 1993 GDP was only about 26 per cent in buffers every now and then (op. cit., to extend the boundary of the Shenzhen 1986. In 1995, it jumped to over 40 1995). Special Economic Zone to embrace the per cent (fig. 5). It was reported that at It should be noted that when the 7th Longgan and Bao’an Districts. The move 1994, 677 major industries released (1986 to 1990) and the 8th (1991 to showed the government’s determination 33 thousand million m3 of waste gases, 1995) Five-Year Plans were announced, to rationalise land-use and development including 1,911 tons of dust and 473 Shenzhen’s socialist market reforms in the city to build Shenzhen into a tons of industrial powder and particles were still confined to simplifying govern- world class city. (EPO, 1995). The EPO also reported se- ment structures and decentralising The Third Master Layout Plan, which rious pollution of the Shenzhen and Buji power to economic enterprises run by was produced in 1996 but was not ap- Rivers (op. cit., 1995). The waste water government units (Shenzhen Museum, proved by the Central Government until treatment rate in the urban areas was chapter 4). Although foreign investment 2000, mapped out a strategy to de- only 10.3 per cent though the industrial had increased over the years, the econ- velop Shenzhen into a modernised eco- DISP 151 46 2002

nomic zone and a world city with a capacity of the environment; to “con- mentally friendly office buildings which prosperous economy, a stable and safe serve in development and to develop in are now under construction (op. cit., society, an amiable environment and a conservation”; to develop clean and 2002c). rational spatial layout with comprehen- convenient renewable resources; and to The efforts of Shenzhen in sustainable sive provision of infrastructure. Shen- invest about 20 billion to raise compre- development have been widely recog- zhen is to be developed into a city with hensively the city’s environmental qual- nised. In December 2000, it was hon- the “environment of Singapore and effi- ity (Shenzhen Commercial News, oured as the top “World Garden City” ciency of Hong Kong” (SMG, 2000, 2000b, Shenzhen Daily, 2002). (Shenzhen Commercial News, 2001a). pp.1 to 2). The city aims to become a In the past decade, the Shenzhen In 2001, Shenzhen became the cham- regional centre for finance, information, Government has passed 38 environ- pion among 10 cities recognised by the trade, commerce, transportation and mental protection laws and rejected Central Government for their efforts in tourism as well as high-tech develop- 3,619 proposed investments on envi- protecting and cleaning the environment and R&D centre in southern China. ronmental grounds (1,000 in 2001) (Li, ment (op. cit., 2001). In June 2002, it Shenzhen will develop a modernised 2002a; Mitchell, 2002). In 1997, the hosted the Global 500 Environment Fo- economic structure led by high-tech and City had a major facelift in terms of rum during the World Environment Day other advanced industries, supported cityscape and won the country’s award celebrations and was awarded the by modern service sectors such as lo- for a Model City on Environmental Pro- UNEP’s Global 500 Roll of Honour for gistics, finance, information, trade and tection (Shenzhen Commercial News, environmental achievement. commerce, and a well-developed urban 2001a). Shenzhen has 170 km2 of nat- agricultural sector. Socially, the city will ural reserve and a mangrove of 368 ha 2.3 Reasons for Shenzhen’s Quest for control population size, improve the (Shenzhen Daily, 2002a). In the ur- Sustainable Development quality of human resources, utilize tech- banised areas, 45 per cent of land in Bottom-up efforts and top-down policies nology and education to enhance de- the built up areas is planted with trees account for Shenzhen’s quest for sus- velopment and nurture modern urban and Shenzhen has set aside 76 per cent tainability. Since its inception, decision culture. Environmentally, pollution and of its land as green lungs (Xinhua News makers have determined to build Shen- soil erosion will be controlled; new land Agency, 2002). Per capita green belt is zhen into a “garden city”. Environmen- development will be limited and natural boosted to 14 m, and there are 37 tal awareness has been strong in the in- reserves and heritage will be protected. parks covering 3,175 ha (Xinhua News dustrialisation process. This awareness The plan aims to turn Shenzhen into a Agency, 2002a). Air quality is fine for was still very much alive when the early model city environmentally and ecolog- 99 per cent of the year and 98 per cent mode of low-value added, outward pro- ically in the Pearl River Delta and of the drinking water is up to standard cessing production was challenged in China. At the regional level, Shenzhen (Hong Kong Commercial News, 2002). the late 1980s when China opened up will coordinate with Hong Kong its land- More than 42 billion yuan has been many more open economic zones use and transportation planning and used on providing infrastructure and throughout the country. As a result, development (Ng and Tang, 2002, raising public awareness for environ- Shenzhen has rapidly lost its advantage p. 26). mental protection (Shenzhen Daily, as a cheap production site. Faced with Since 2000, the Shenzhen Municipal 2002b). The effectiveness of environ- increasing competition and the restruc- Government has committed itself to mental education can be reflected in the turing of the economy, the Municipal build the City with “bluer sky, cleaner incident of protecting the Futian Na- Government believed that an improved water, greener fields, more flowers, tional Reserve. environment will help lure more foreign prettier city, nicer breezes, fresher air In 1994, after learning that a coastal investment into upstream high technol- and longer lives” (Shenzhen Commer- Binhai (literally means “coastal”) Thor- ogy businesses. cial News, 2000a). In 2001, the Shen- oughfare would be built along the In fact, ever since the 1990s, Shen- zhen Municipal Government announced Futian mangrove, many local people zhen has increasingly relied on foreign “measures to implement the sustainable objected to the idea. In response, the investment (fig. 6). The actual foreign development strategy to enhance the Municipal People’s Congress committee capital used by Shenzhen from 1980 to building and conserving of Shen- appealed to the government to protect 2000 had exceeded US$20 billion, zhen’s ecological environment”. Indica- the mangrove. In November 2002, the two-thirds of which was used after 1995 tors were set up to monitor the process Municipal Government enacted a new (Li, 2000, p.15). Foreign investors from (Shenzhen Commercial News, 2000b). law, which forced planners to move the 67 countries and regions around the The main measures taken by Shenzhen central point of the road 200 metres world, including 76 on Fortune maga- in preserving and constructing an eco- northward to avoid the main part of the zine’s Top 500 List, had set up more logically friendly environment are: to de- mangrove (Shenzhen Daily, 2002c). In than 14,000 foreign-funded enterprises velop the right industrial mix to lessen 1997, the government drafted a new in Shenzhen (op. cit., 2000, p.15). The pressure on the environment; to control overall design for the preserved area value of high-tech products was 106.45 population growth within the carrying that included a museum and environ- billion yuan in 2000, an increase of DISP 151 47 2002

Sustainability Issues Shenzhen

Ecologically ethical utilisation of natural resources Carrying capacity of nature Shortage of water resources: 550 m 3/person (only of national 1 average and /5 of provincial average). Only 20% of water resources in Shenzhen can be used1 Air pollution: There are 500,000 cars2. Increase in the number of new automobiles: 300/day Inadequate sewage treatment facilities: only 50% of urban sewage 29.8 per cent when compared to the is treated3 previous year (Shenzhen Commercial Rapid industrialisation and urbanisation have worsened water News, 2001b). High-tech industries oc- pollution problems cupy 42.3 per cent of the gross output Illegal construction leading to soil erosion and water pollution4 value of industries with sales revenues More than half of its sea area was polluted5 over five million yuan (op. cit., 2001b). The ambitious plan to provide a nice Biodiversity Insecticides killed insects and disrupted the food chain, which ac- environment to attract more foreign in- counts for the small number of native birds in Shenzhen6 vestment was given a strong boost by Three ˝R˝s to minimise wastes Discussed in measures to implement the sustainable development the national development policies adopt and energy consumption strategy to enhance the building and conserving of Shenzhen’s ecological environment announced in 2001 in the Ninth Five-Year Plan (1996 to 2000). Recognising the huge environ- Intra- and Inter-generational equity mental costs that have been incurred Demographic stabilisation Rapid population growth due to immigration. Young population and high labour participation rate. Population grew from 0.3 million in since the adoption of the open door pol- 1979 to 4 million in 2000.7 Unofﬁ cial ﬁ gure is 7million.8 icy, the Chinese Central Government is determined to place equal emphasis on Majority (over 70%) are temporary population development and environment (Ng, Reforming market economy: Developing an outward-looking export-oriented economy. Modelled Chan and Hills, forthcoming). Two years restorative on elements of the market economy. after the first Earth Summit, China’s Diversity in human resources Talented population coming from the rest of the country. Agenda 21 was approved by the State development Council of the People’s Republic of Diversity in built environ- Most of the infrastructure projects in Longgan and Bao’an are pri- China on 25th March 1994. The pro- ment vately and inadequately funded8 grammes in China’s Agenda 21 have 5.2 million m2 of illegal construction was cleared in 1999 and since become the strategic guidelines 2000, which added up to 5.9 million m2 of land9 for the formulation of medium and long- term socio-economic development plans Diversity in economic Industrial value added made up 41 per cent of GDP10 at national and local levels. At the cen- activities Contribution of science and technology to development: 51%10 tral level, China’s Agenda 21 was used Expenditure on research and development as a percentage of GDP: to guide the formulation and finalization 2.57% of the Ninth Five-Year Plan and the Long- Term Objectives for the Year 2010. As Note: The sustainable v t fr d fr Ng, 2002, p. 31. all lower level governments had to plan 1 Renmin Bao ’s 25thh December 2001 (in within the framework of these two documents, local governments started to 2 adopt the sustainable development dis- 3 C.T. and Tse, Y. ( Let the world know about Shenzhen, Hong Kong Commercial News, 23rd course in their respective five year and November 2001 (in Chinese). long term socio-economic plans. 4 Ts W. (2001), Population and the environment are Shenzhen’s major sustainable development issues, Shen- In fact, as early as July 1994, the State Council had issued a notice to all 5 was reported an ocean report by the Shenzhen Municipal Govern- provinces, autonomous regions and mu- Li, C. (2002), UN green for polluted South China Morning nicipalities encouraging them to imple- Post, 17th May 2002. ment China’s Agenda 21 (ACCA21, 6 Ts W. (2001), Population and the environment are Shenzhen’s major sustainable development issues, Shen- 1996, p.3). In February 1995, the State Planning Commission and State 7 M.K. (2002), Sustainable urban development issues in Chinese transitional cities: Hong Kong and Shen- Science and Technology Commission which are the leading agencies in for- 8 7th May 2002.

9 mulating and implementing China’s sustainable development strategy, issued a 10 Shenzhen Commercial News (2001), How modernised is Shenzhen? 29th March 2001 (in Chinese). directive requesting local and sectoral governments to develop a better under- Table 2: Sustainable development framework standing of the overall strategy of and Shenzhen’s performance. China’s Agenda 21 in order to better integrate the principles of sustainable development into their Ninth Five-Year Plans and Long-Term Targets for the year 2010 (op. cit., 1996, p.3). Capitalising DISP 151 48 2002

Sustainability Issues Shenzhen

Diversity in culture Community cultures are encouraged. In Futian alone, 327 civic communities are set up to promote cultural acitivites11 Basic needs It was reported that migrant workers’ shacks were demolished along the Pingnan Railway before the World Environment Day was held in June 200212 Over half of the population still lack accommodation13 Inadequate public sports facilities: 0.48 m2/person14 on the national turn towards sustain- Social cohesion Shenzhen is a dual society: temporary labourers/migrants vs talent- able development, environmentally con- ed elite 15 scious Shenzhen seized the opportunity to switch its rhetoric and jumped on the GINI coefﬁcient: 30%16 sustainability bandwagon. While the Equity in governance Emerging discussion as can be seen in various newspaper reports change started in the Ninth Five-Year Equal opportunities No discussion in the planning circle yet Plan, it was in the Tenth Five-Year Geographical equity: self- The agriculture sector is discussed in the Tenth Five Year Plan but its Plan that the sustainability discourse reliance importance in terms of contribution to GDP has been declining firmly established in government circles. While Shenzhen’s environmental Responses achievements are as impressive as its economic ones, can Shenzhen pass the 17 Long-term view with system Contemplating administrative reforms sustainability test? thinking, feedback loops and strategic information Horizontal cross-sectoral No information available 3 Is Shenzhen Sustainable? approach Sustainable development is more than Vertical integration No information available just environmental protection. Funda- Politics: new governance No information available mental to the concept are two inter-re- (three-way partnership) lated components: human beings and the natural environment (Ng, 2002, Sustainable planning No information available. The planning process does allows a par- p. 8). Demographic stability in terms of process: participation and ticipation and comments; and the political process allows a certain fertility rates, migration patterns and dialogue degree of dialogue between the mayor, people’s representatives and local residents ethnic compositions, and a respect for the ecosystem are essential to maintain Law and legislation on envi- Developing with more “teeth” sustainability (op. cit., 2002, p. 8). The ronment management respect for ecology goes beyond an eth- Market: green consumption, Banning the use of foam lunch boxes in 2001 as a response to ical utilisation of natural resources, and ecological modernisation Central Government’s decision to stop manufacturing, selling and demands intra- and inter-generational using foam eating utensils. equity (World Commission on Environ- Socio-cultural changes Slowly rising environmental awareness. ment and Development, 1987; United (public awareness) Nations, 1992 quoted in Ng, 2002, Financing No information available. However, the Municipal Government p. 8). “Intra- and inter-generational will invest 20 billion yuan in environmental protection from 2002 equity cannot be achieved without long- to 2007.18 term economic prosperity and a diversified and pluralistic society championing Note: The sustainable development framework is adapted from Ng, 2002, p. 31. social and geographical equity… In 11 Yu, M. (2001), Community culture, Shenzhen Commercial News, 30th October 2001. other words, a city’s wealth should not 12 Li, C. (2002), Shenzhen campaigns to be seen as “green”, South China Morning Post, 2nd June 2002. be measured in economic terms alone. 13 Li, G. and Wang, C. (1998), Directing spatial development in an international city, in Collection of Publications Social and environmental capital is also by Staff Members, Urban Planning and Design Institute of Shenzhen 1990 to 1998, pp. 40–47, Shenzhen, important. To nourish different types of UPDIS (in Chinese). capital, social equity, equity in govern- 14 Shenzhen Evening News (2001), Let Shenzhenese be stronger and live longer, 28th March 2001 (in Chinese). ance and opportunities are essential” 15 Ng, M.K. (2002), Sustainable urban development issues in Chinese transitional cities: Hong Kong and Shen- (Ng, 2002, p. 8). Table 2 outlines Ng’s zhen, International Planning Studies, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 7 to 36. synthesis of a sustainable development 16 Shenzhen Commercial News (2001), How modernized is Shenzhen? 29th March 2001 (in Chinese). framework and the evaluation of Shen- 17 Mitchell, T. (2002), Shenzhen test-runs government reforms, South China Morning Post, 20th July 2002. zhen’s performance against the various 18 Mitchell, T. (2002), $19 billion [HK$] green plan for Shenzhen, South China Morning Post, 5th June 2002. aspects. Table 2 (Continuation) The results suggest that Shenzhen as a rapidly growing industrial economy facing constant demographic pressure is confronting a lot of sustainable development challenges. The rapidly growing population is a major challenge to Shen- zhen’s sustainability. There are many environmental problems, from water short- DISP 151 49 2002

age to air and water pollution. For the nomic growth. Given the city govern- Members, Urban Planning and Design Insti- social dimension, removing illegal con- ment’s outstanding track record of in- tute of Shenzhen, 1990–1998, pp. 89–92 structions in an increasingly open econ- venting and re-inventing hard and soft (in Chinese). omy and society constantly tests the gov- infrastructure to cope with changing so- HONG KONG COMMERCIAL NEWS ernment’s skills in handling social con- cio-economic and environmental de- (2002), Building a civilised ecological city in flicts. There have been cases where po- mands, and the Chinese Central Gov- five years, 27th May 2002. lice and officials had faced violent re- ernment’s progressing commitment to LAM, K.C. (1986), Environment and devel- sistance from villagers trying to save sustainable development, Shenzhen opment in Chinese Special Economic Zones: their illegal property from demolition (Li, should be able to move beyond environ- the case of Shenzhen, in The Science of the 2002b). Unless the government man- mental protection to achieve sustainabil- Total Environment, 55, 1986, pp.147–156. ages to provide affordable housing by ity. In this sense, Shenzhen’s quest for LI, C. (2002a), UN green award for polluted market or other means, illegal construc- sustainable development may serve as a Shenzhen, South China Morning Post, May tion problems will probably continue for model for local socialist market eco- 17, 2002. some time. According to Li (2002b), a nomies along China’s coastal region LI, C. (2002b), Demolition drive helps Shen- government official estimated that where the social fabric and environmen- zhen build new image, South China Morning “about 500,000 privately constructed tal resources have been constantly chal- Post, 8th April 2002. apartment buildings in Shenzhen ac- lenged by the forces of globalisation. LI, R. (2000), “Shenzhen: 20 years of bril- commodate 2.5 million people, ac- liant achievements,” Beijing Review, Sept. counting for one-third of the popula- 25, 2000, pp.12–17. tion”. With the unfolding of the socialist Notes NG, M.K. (2002), Sustainable urban development issues in Chinese transitional cities: market economy and increasing re- [1] Geographically, Hong Kong was south of Hong Kong and Shenzhen, in International liance on market means to solve various Shenzhen. Hong Kong was a British Colony Planning Studies, Vol. 7, No.1, pp.7–36. socio-economic issues, satisfying basic from 1842 to 1997. NG, M.K., CHAN, K. and HILLS, P. (forth- needs and enhancing social cohesion [2] While the official population figure in will prove to be more difficult than main- coming), Sustainable development in China: 1999 was 4.05 million with 70 per cent as from knowledge to actions, International taining certain levels of environmental temporary residents (SSIB, 2000, p.96), it Journal of Environment and Sustainable De- standards. Shenzhen cannot claim to be was reported that the population could be 7 velopment. a sustainable city until she finds a satis- million (SCMP, 2002). factory way to integrate the commu- [3] In the Mainland, modernisation is often NG, M.K. and TANG, W.S. (2002), Plan- nity’s socio-economic and environmen- used inter-changeably with sustainable de- ning rhetoric and urban development in Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China, Oc- tal concerns in the development pro- velopment. See China’s Agenda 21 at casional Paper No.18, Occasional Paper Se- cess. http://www.acca21.edu.cn/ca21pa.htm1. ries, The Centre for China Urban and Re- gional Studies, Hong Kong Baptist University, 36p. 4 Sustainable Development with References Chinese Characteristics? MITCHELL, T. (2002), Green plan for Shen- zhen, in South China Morning Post, June 5, In less than a quarter of a century, Shen- ADMINISTRATIVE CENTRE FOR CHINA’S 2002. zhen has not only transformed from a ru- AGENDA 21 (ACCA21) (1996), Progress ral border town into a major industrial on China’s Agenda 21, Beijing, ACCA21. PLANNING BUREAU, SHENZHEN MUNICI- PAL GOVERNMENT AND THE CHINA metropolis, she has also become an in- CHIU, R. (1986), Modernization in China: ACADEMY OF URBAN PLANNING AND ternationally recognised “garden city” the Experiment of Shenzhen Special Eco- DESIGN (CAUPD) (1986), The General Plan- with appealing cityscape and urban de- nomic Zone 1979–1984, Unpublished Ph.D. ning of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, Dissertation, Australian National University. sign. Yet, if tested against the basic and Shenzhen, Planning Bureau (in Chinese). derived sustainability criteria, Shenzhen ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION OFFICE SHENZHEN COMMERCIAL NEWS (2000a), may still have a long way to go towards (EPO), SHENZHEN MUNICIPAL GOVERN- People-centred sustainable development, sustainability. Nevertheless, as remark- MENT (1995), A report on Shenzhen’s envi- 10th November 2000 (in Chinese). ed by Professor Niu, principal scientist ronment, 1994, Shenzhen Special Economic responsible for the 2002 Report on Zone Daily, 8th March 1995 (in Chinese). SHENZHEN COMMERCIAL NEWS (2000b), Decisions on implementing sustainable devel- China’s Sustainable Development Strat- FRIEDMANN, J. (1988), Life Space and Eco- opment and enhancing environmental con- egy (SDRG, 2002), Shenzhen probably nomic Space, New Jersey, Transaction struction and conservation, 27th December would be the first city in the Mainland Books. 2000. China to realise modernisation [3] GU, H. (1998), Urban planning in Shen- SHENZHEN COMMERCIAL NEWS (2001a), (Zhang, 2001). Shenzhen has been zhen: retrospect and prospect, in Urban Shenzhen: building an ecological city, 31st learning how to maintain a satisfactory Planning and Design Institute of Shenzhen August 2001 (in Chinese). environment in the course of rapid eco- (1998), Collections of Publications by Staff DISP 151 50 2002

SHENZHEN COMMERCIAL NEWS (2001b), AND DESIGN (CAUPD) (1986), The General “Delightful achievements in 2000 and build- Planning of Shenzhen Special Economic ing stronger foundation in 2001,” Shenzhen Zone. Commercial News, March 28, 2001 (in Chi- WONG, K.Y. (1985), The economic poten- nese). tial of Shenzhen: industry, tourism and agri- SHENZHEN DAILY (2000a), Sustaining our culture, in WONG, D.Y. and CHU, D.K.Y. ecological diversity, 23rd May 2002 (in Chi- (eds.), Modernisation in China: the case of nese). the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, New York, Oxford University Press, pp.57–78. SHENZHEN DAILY (2000b), Environmental protection paramount in SZ, 5th June 2002 WORLD COMMISSION ON ENVIRON- (in Chinese). MENT AND DEVELOPMENT (1987), Our Common Future, Oxford, Oxford University SHENZHEN DAILY (2000c), Urban planning Press. seeks balance, 9th May 2002 (in Chinese). XINHUA NEWS AGENCY (2002a), State to SHENZHEN DAILY (2002), Sharing environ- host international Green Oscar, 8th July mental issues, 10th June 2002 (in Chinese). 2002. SHENZHEN MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT XINHUA NEWS AGENCY (2002b), China’s (SMG) (1997), Master Layout Plan of Shen- southern city to host World Environment Day, zhen (1996–2010), Shenzhen, SMG (in Chi- 8th March 2002. nese). YEH, A.G.O. (1985), Physical planning, in SHENZHEN MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT Wong, D.Y. and Chu, D.K.Y. (eds.), Mod- (SMG) (2000), Master Layout Plan of Shen- ernisation in China: the Case of the Shen- zhen, Shenzhen, SMG (in Chinese). zhen Special Economic Zone, New York, Ox- ford University Press, pp.108–130. SHENZHEN MUSEUM (1999), The History of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, Bei- ZHANG, H. (2001), Shenzhen: the first to re- jing, People’s Press (in Chinese). alize modernisation, Shenzhen Commercial News, 29th March 2001. SHENZHEN STATISTICS INFORMATION BU- REAU (SSIB) (1999), Shenzhen Statistics and Information Yearbook, Shenzhen, SSIB. Prof. Dr. Mee Kam Ng SHENZHEN STATISTICS INFORMATION BU- The Centre of Urban Planning and Environ- REAU (SSIB) (2000a), Shenzhen Statistical mental Management Handbook, Shenzhen, SSIB. Knowles Building SHENZHEN STATISTICS INFORMATION BU- The University of Hong Kong REAU (SSIB) (2000b), Shenzhen Statistics Pokfulam Road and Information Yearbook, Shenzhen, SSIB. Hong Kong [email protected] SHENZHEN STATISTICS INFORMATION BU- REAU (SSIB) (2001), Shenzhen Statistics and Information Yearbook, Shenzhen, SSIB.

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST, Shenzhen puts on clean face as city grows to new hori- zon, 7th May 2002.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH GROUP (SDRG), CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE (2002), 2002 Report on China’s Sustainable Development Strategy, Beijing, Kexue Chubanshe.

UNITED NATIONS (1992), Agenda 21, Rio Declaration, Forest Principles, United Na- tions Conference on Environment and Devel- opment (UNCED), Rio de Janeiro, 3–14, June.

URBAN PLANNING BUREAU OF THE SHEN- ZHEN MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT AND CHINA ACADEMY OF URBAN PLANNING DISP 151 51 2002 Margrit Hugentobler, Beisi Jia, Fred Moavenzadeh, Keisuke Hanaki

AGS Future Cities: Guangzhou – A Partnership for Sustainable Urban Development

In the context of the “Alliance for Global 2 Project Context: Guangzhou and Sustainability” (AGS) – a research part- the Pearl River Delta (PRD) nership between ETH Zurich, MIT in 2.1 PRD Development: a Miracle or a Boston and the University of Tokyo – a co- Nightmare? operative project with the city of Geographically, the Pearl River Delta Guangzhou in South China was estab- (PRD) in the South Chinese province of lished in the year 2000. Its goal is to sup- Guangdong forms a triangle, with the port the city of Guangzhou in addressing Pearl River as its central component flowing southeast from Guangzhou, and problems of sustainable development re- Hong Kong/Shenzhen and Macao/ Fig. 1: Triangle of the megacities. lated to transportation, housing, and wa- Zhuhai forming the southern boundary ter and land-use management. Following (fig. 1). The PRD economic region cov- an initial phase of exploring mutual inter- ers 42,000 square kilometers with a ests between research teams and Guang- provide initial two-year funding for es- population of 20.5 million in 1993, ex- tablishing a partnership with the Munic- pected to increase to 28 million by zhou municipal policy makers, three sub- ipal Government of Guangzhou. In this 2010 (Guangdong Planning Commis- projects were identified: (i) urban trans- partnership, the three research teams sion & PRDEZPO, 1996, p. 93). The de- portation systems and policies, (ii) water from MIT, ETH Zurich, and University of velopment of the Pearl River Delta into resource management, and (iii) improve- Tokyo, would each contribute their par- one of the most densely populated ar- ment of the residential environment of ticular expertise on issues of sustainable eas in the world is based on the restruc- development of interest to the city gov- turing of the Chinese economy aimed at Zhu Village as a model for urban re- ernment of Guangzhou. Fortunately, the encouraging international trade and in- newal. The article describes the rapidly teams were joined by Prof. Jia Beisi vestment [2]. The amazing economic changing planning context and highlights from the architecture department of the development of the region is attributed progress and findings from the three sub- University of Hong Kong, a former post- to the Special Policy of 1980, which projects. doctoral student at ETH Zurich, who had opened up new options for Guangdong been key in establishing initial contacts as a result of the following key factors and continues to play a central role as (Chang, 2001, p. 455): As longstanding partnerships sometimes “cultural translator”. After preparatory • Freedom to manage foreign trade: have their roots in coincidental meet- meetings, the first AGS Future Cities i.e. retain more foreign currency, set up ings, so too did this project take shape. Partnership conference was held in promotional organizations and prices in Two of the authors visiting Guangzhou Guangzhou in November 2000. It Hong Kong and Macao; had the chance to meet the then Deputy served the goal of establishing a mutual • Fiscal independence: passing on a Director of the Urban Greening Depart- understanding of the problems to be ad- fixed sum of taxes instead of a percent- ment of Guangzhou. The informal dis- dressed and of the possible contribution age of revenue to the central govern- cussion in an exquisite restaurant, over- of each party. As a result, memoranda ment; looking a beautifully landscaped lake of understanding were signed to pursue • Financial independence: allowing park in the heart of Guangzhou, quickly three interrelated subprojects. The goals Guangdong banks to make their own in- centered on the challenges to sustain- and preliminary findings of the sub-proj- vestment decisions. These policies set able development posed by the rapid ects selected in this phase of the collab- the stage for the establishment of the growth of Guangzhou and the sur- oration are described in separate sec- Special Economic Zones of Shenzhen rounding region of the Pearl River Delta. tions of this article. While each project [3] and Zhuhai in the southern part of This meeting of minds was subsequently team worked independently with the re- the province. turned into an opportunity to apply and spective Chinese counterparts – munici- As a result, PRD has been among the adapt some of the technical, social and pal policymakers, planners, faculty and fastest growing areas in China. GDP policy analysis tools and methodologies students of local universities –, the find- growth averaged about 13% annually developed in conjunction with an earlier ings were discussed in a second inter- in recent years, with the per capita GDP AGS project “Future Cities: Toward Sus- national seminar in December of 2001. of the region being more than 3 times tainable Cities” [1] to the real world As the project has received continued the national figure. In 2000, the region challenges of a thriving megacity. funding for 2002 and 2003, this article accounted for one third of China’s total reports on work in progress. exports and 30 % of its total foreign direct investment (Australia-China Cham- 1Project History ber of Commerce and Industry, 2002). In 1999, a proposal was submitted to The physical and economic transforma- the Alliance for Global Sustainability to tion of this previously fertile estuary for DISP 151 52 2002

the production of fish and rice defies de- When, in 1985, the Chinese State 3 The Residential Housing and scription – growth figures can only give Council designated the PRD as an open Living Environment in Guangzhou a pale image of the actual pace of economic zone, leading cities in the The concept of sustainable development change and the radical urbanization of area like Guangzhou were also de- contains two key elements: the essential the area [4]. clared open zones, along with periph- needs of the population, especially the The downside of this tremendous eral cities and open towns placed under world’s poor, to which overriding prior- growth in population and economic ac- the jurisdiction of open cities. With ity should be given; and the limit to de- tivity is the increased pressure on the en- these developments, Guangzhou re- velopment imposed by the rate of (natu- vironment. Some examples: sumed its historical role as a key city for ral or managed) assimilation by the • Air pollution from vehicular emis- trade with the outside world. counterpart ecosystems (Corson, 1990). sions, industrial operations, power ge- The ten districts and two county-level neration, construction activities, and towns that make up the Guangzhou mu- 3.1 Upgrading the Standard of Living trash and agricultural burning is the nicipal area cover some 7,500 km2, of of the Poor most visible and urgent environmental which the downtown area accounts for As to Corson’s first element of sustain- problem. Atmospheric emissions in- about half. The population of the city able development, the Guangzhou gov- creased by almost 120% in the 1990s. has doubled in the last seven years to ernmental housing policy has four ob- In dense urban areas, carbon dioxide more than seven million people [5]. The jectives: upgrading the standard of liv- and nitrogen oxide levels have soared growth of the city, however, is not due ing of its residents; achieving a mini- with the exponential growth in automo- only to immigration, but also to the in- mum of 15.5 m2 of livingspace per per- bile and truck traffic (Campanella, et al. corporation of previously independent son by 2010; improving environmental 2001). cities and villages into the city, thus ex- quality; and reducing the population • The amount of domestic wastewater tending its jurisdiction and sphere of in- and building density in old districts. and sewage generated has surged in fluence, along with increasing its re- Guangzhou faces the same problems of recent years, with treatment capacity source base. An example is the city of overcrowding as other large cities in the lagging behind. The treatment rate of Panyu on the southern bank of the Pearl developing world, with population den- domestic sewage was only about 9% River, which was incorporated as a dis- sity ranging from 27,000 to 55,000 between 1991 and 1995 (Barron and trict of Guangzhou in 2000, adding 1.6 persons per square kilometre. Steinbrecher, 1999, p. 151). Estimates million inhabitants, and giving the city According to a 1997 survey, there of how much of the industrial overflow is access to precious water resources and were 26,000 households with less than treated vary from 50% to 85%, conta- the opportunity to build a new deepwa- five square meters of living space per minating sources of drinking water (Ng, ter port. person. Their income levels were the 1999, p. 11). However, environmental Guangzhou’s economic development lowest in the middle and low-income regulations and their enforcement vary reflects that of the PRD overall. Between groups. In 1997, the Guangzhou gov- considerably throughout the Delta. 1975 and 1990, spending on urban re- ernment announced an innovative hous- • Due to the massive population in- construction in Guangzhou increased ing initiative – “Housing Allowance crease and the concomitant decrease in more than tenfold (Chang, 2001, p. Scheme” (HAS). The main goal of hous- cultivated land, the PRD has changed 455). Guangzhou’s GDP has virtually ing reform is to encourage individual from a food exporting to a food impor- doubled since 1995. Annual growth home ownership by making the pur- ting area. In the 1980s alone, use of rates are in the 13% range. While agri- chase of housing more affordable. chemical fertilizers in the Delta increas- cultural output still tends to increase Along with HAS, the sale of Comfort- ed by 40%. some, growth areas are mostly in indus- able Housing Project units was another trial manufacturing (crude oils, steel, ce- focal point of housing reform in ment, motor vehicles and motor cycles, Guangzhou [6]. In March 1998, Com- 2.2 Guangzhou – the Pearl in the Pearl cigarettes, beer and soft drinks). The fortable Housing prices ranged from River Delta electronic information industry is the RMB 3,000 to 3,500 per m2 (around Guangzhou is the political, economic, fastest growing sector, as Guangzhou US$ 400), compared to the market level scientific, technological, educational has become one of China’s three largest of RMB 4,400. The living space of and cultural center of Guangdong Internet exchange centers. Guangzhou citizens is to increase from province. The crisscross waterways of Guangzhou, however, is also at the 8.92 m2 per person in 1993 to 15.5 m2 the Pearl River have allowed Guang- contributing and the receiving end of by the year 2010, with every household zhou to become one of the world’s large the environmental problems the Pearl having a well-equipped apartment. To ports. With its role as the center of civil River Delta has to wrestle with. The sub- reach this objective, Guangzhou needs air traffic in South China and a nodal projects described in the following sec- to build 70 million square meters of new point for national rail traffic, Guang- tions relate to different aspects of the housing with an additional 20 million zhou is described as “China’s Southern challenges to sustainable development m2 for all kinds of service facilities. Be- Gate.” that Guangzhou needs to address. cause of the high population density, DISP 151 53 2002

amounts of pesticides with adverse ef- Fig. 2: Sprawling residential estates at the fects on local biological systems. Gar- outskirts of Guangzhou (photo Margrit den maintenance in new residential ar- Fig. 3: Traditional Ling-Nan garden in a large Hugentobler). eas, mostly relying on the use of tap-wa- residential estate (photo Beisi Jia). ter, has driven up water consumption to traffic congestion and poor air quality in about 500 liters per day and house- where the market plays an increasingly the downtown area, people became hold, more than twice the national aver- important role. The ecological dimen- more willing to live in the suburbs. Mov- age of 180 to 220 liters. According to sions are still largely neglected, both in ing outside of the city is seen as an im- national standards, every square meter housing construction, maintenance and provement of the quality of life. Due to of green lawn requires two to four liters in development patterns that contribute this newly generated market, many de- of water per day. to urban sprawl. velopers thus began to focus on housing Little attention is yet paid to the use of While traditional architecture charac- construction in suburban areas. Guang- environmentally friendly materials in terized by two- to three-storey courtyard zhou thus began to spread out from the building construction. Aluminum used houses has lost its usefulness in the mod- center to the surrounding areas. In the for window frames is not ecological be- ern, rapidly growing city, some devel- last twenty years, the built-up area of cause of its high energy consumption opers have become sensitive to tradi- Guangzhou has increased 1.8 times. and pollution in the production process. tions in the design of green space and These trends lead to concerns about the Alternative combinations of plastic and communal facilities. In Riverside Gar- second element of sustainable develop- aluminum are considered too expensive dens – a large housing complex, a typi- ment. for residential buildings. As clay bricks, cal Ling-Nan garden offers flowers, another high energy and resource con- bushes, and trees providing shadow, sumption material, have been banned but no lawn or grass requiring large 3.2 Limits of Housing Development by the government, the use of light- amounts of water (fig. 3). A shopping The way in which cities expand and op- weight foam concrete blocks for non- arcade, added at the street level of resi- erate has a direct influence on the sur- load bearing walls, is a step in the right dential buildings, modeled after local rounding eco-system. The housing sector direction. Generally, however, recycled street patterns in Guangzhou, offers ba- consumes large amounts of energy and materials, except for coal ash, are pro- sic goods, encourages social interaction other resources in the construction and hibited in new housing construction by and provides protection from sun and operation phase. Solid and liquid waste building laws and conventional prac- rain. The concept paid off – 200 flats is produced along with carbon dioxide tices, because of the inconsistency and were sold in one day, a record sale and other noxious emissions. Discourag- instability of these products. since the company was founded. ing high consumption life styles, reduc- While containers for paper recycling ing the use of energy and resources, and waste separation have been in- and maximizing local recycling of stalled in many estates, they are under- 3.3 Where Worlds Clash: “Villages in waste should also become the essential used and may at best serve an educa- the City” objectives for sustainable housing devel- tional purpose. As waste collection, sep- There are some 138 so called “villages opment. aration and recycling is still a source of in the city” of Guangzhou. These vil- Historically, the Guangzhou region, income for many poor people, recycling lages with more than one million inhab- with its subtropical monsoon climate, of- bins are seen as threats to their “busi- itants, historically relatively self-con- fered a fertile habitat for a large variety ness.” tained political and economic systems of plant and animal species. In recent In general, Guangzhou still maintains with a largely agricultural population, years, however, much of the original a high density development pattern, still covered 11.6% of the built-up area vegetation and the species relying on it which contributes to the efficient use of of Guangzhou in 1997 (Guangzhou have disappeared as a result of rapid land and tends to decrease energy use Construction Commission). Many of urban development. The forest of the for building maintenance. It helps re- these villages have become seemingly White Cloud mountain, the northern duce traveling distances and promotes out-of-place witnesses of a world past in backdrop of the city, is virtually devoid the use of energy efficient means of a 21st century metropolis. of any animal life. transportation (buses, trains), thus de- In 1989, Beijing issued the Law of While newly built housing estates nor- creasing energy use (Norman, 1996; “Transfer of Land-Use Rights,” regulat- mally have more than 30% of green Naess, 1995). High density also offers ing the use of the land outside the Spe- open space for recreational purposes, the potential for interaction among peo- cial Economic Zones. It allocated one little attention is paid to enhancing bio- ple as individuals and groups. hectare of land to each household as a logical diversity. Rather than using in- In summary, current housing develop- source of wealth. In urban areas of the digenous plants, parks and recreational ment is focused on meeting the needs of Pearl River Delta, the value of farmland areas are designed for beauty, their a growing population and its demand skyrocketed. Farmers, now entrepre- maintenance often requiring large for more living space in a process neurs and landlords overnight, individu- DISP 151 54 2002

half the size of a football field open onto Fig. 4: Newly constructed Shadong Village large park creations with little shade (photo Margrit Hugentobler). which would invite people to linger. Tianhe District advertises itself as a glitzy “new world” – defying any notion ally and as collectives lent their land-use of China as a so-called developing rights to developers (Craciun, 2001). country. With the rapid expansion of cities like Leaving the busy four-lane highway Guangzhou, many villages were razed that connects Zhu Village to the City, a to the ground to give way to high rise modern arch symbolizes the gate to a buildings for commercial and residential different world, where the pace of life use. The villagers, often handsomely suddenly slows. Behind a big open mar- compensated, were moved to newly ket with small booths – an outdoor ex- built subdivisions at the edge of the city. tension of the large store behind – lies Though living in comfortable homes, old the village administration building, next farmers we talked to seemed lost and to a large school with adjacent play- oddly out of place. The social fabric of grounds and soccer fields. None of family clans and communities – evolved these buildings is more than five to ten over hundreds of years – was destroyed years old, the architecture uninspiring, over night, along with it the many small the facades finished in the typical white scale income generating activities (re- tile. Past these buildings, a different pair shops, small factories, food stands, world begins to take shape. Two- to restaurants, etc.) that had been part of three-storey older residential buildings the economic base and social life of the are connected to the street by small con- historically grown village structures. crete overpasses. The canal they bridge In negotiating the content of the carries not so much water as discarded AGS-Guangzhou partnership project, PET bottles, cans and other disposables Guangzhou city officials proposed to of civilization. A few steps further, an the ETH Zurich team that they should act unexpected view of a pond surrounded as consultants on the renewal of Zhu Vil- by white and pink tile-finished buildings lage – one of the villages in the city. of varying heights, which seem to dou- Rather than demolishing it, new ways ble in size with their reflection in the wa- should be considered to improve the ap- ter. A huge bunyan tree at the far end of pearance of the village and plan its fu- the pond, interspersed single-storey ture development. While the motivation brick houses and the outwardly tilted behind this new urban development roof of an old temple lining the small Fig. 6 to 9: Qualities of Zhu Village: trees, strategy was never made quite clear, an path along the water complete the pic- water, historic buildings, public places (photos agreement was reached, and publicly turesque impression. “Little Venice,” as Werner Stutz). supported by the Vice-Mayor of one visitor from Europe exclaimed spon- Guangzhou. Under the agreement, Zhu taneously. There is indeed a very attrac- Village should become a model project tive visual quality to this place and some (fig. 6 to 9). It is not so much single for village renewal, from which lessons other similar locations in Zhu Village characteristics that are appealing, but could be applied to other village re- the combination of features that defines newal projects in the city. the qualities of these places. Upon closer inspection, the temple roof needs repair, the edges of the pond are laced 3.4 Zhu Village with more bottles, cans, paper wrap- Zhu Village is located at the edge of pings, and cardboard floating on the Tianhe District in the eastern part of the water. city, and destined to become the city’s new commercial and administrative center. The vision is well on its way to be- 3.5 Discarding the Grand Plan in Favor coming reality (fig. 5). Shiny glass fa- of “Soft Renewal” cades mirror the post-modern architec- In the initial project phase we defined ture of office towers – in the prevailing Fig. 5: Model of Tianhe District (photo Mar- our role as consultants who would pro- pink and green colors. Hotel lobbies grit Hugentobler). vide stimulation and input, while the DISP 151 55 2002

planning work would be done locally. In a workshop with city and village officials, we proposed a systemic way of approaching the issue of the Zhu Village renewal from a sustainable development perspective based on a conceptual framework developed by ETH Zurich Wohnforum to analyze successful urban planning projects (Hugentobler and Brändle-Ströh, 1997). The framework differentiates the well-known tenets of environmental, social and economic sustainability along the lines of a systemic approach, raising questions about sustainability related to chemical/physical, biological, human (individual), social and cultural systems. In a second phase of the project, a team of architects and sociologists from a local university developed an extensive inventory of the physical, economic and social characteristics of Zhu Village (number and type of housing, historic buildings, the organization of economic activity, sources of income, etc.) [7]. Fig. 10: Inventory of areas proposed for pro- Based on the physical inventory, they tection (Werner Stutz). proposed a four-phase re-development plan which, upon completion, would have radically altered the existing spa- and document the process of planning from a sustainable development per- tial features of the village and its unique and implementing changes; spective. This work is currently going on qualities. While the inventory proved • Planned changes should be ap- and will provide the basis for discussion very valuable, the development plan proached in a step-by-step fashion, star- with the local project group on how to met with many critical questions by the ting with key problems and interventions proceed (fig. 10). By planning for ex- Chinese policymakers as well as our re- in order to be realistic in terms of re- emplary improvements, the intention is search team. The plan was expensive, sources required; to create a dynamic impetus for further reflected much of the greenfield ap- • A successful and encompassing ap- changes proach to new residential housing de- proach to sustainable urban renewal sign, and offered little in terms of sus- would require participation and commit- tainable development qualities. ment of the many actors involved (city, 4Transport Management in At this point, project decision and district, town and village level govern- Guangzhou management responsibility was shifted ment, as well as the villagers them- Of the many daunting challenges the to the (Tianhe) District Level Govern- selves). world’s developing megacities face, ment, while top city officials pledged It was agreed that rather than starting perhaps none is more pressing than the their continued support for the project in with an overall development plan, a urgent need to enhance the mobility of view of its model character. At the same number of locations, characterized by citizens. An efficient flow of goods and time, we were asked to change our role the special elements of the village – his- people into, around, and through these by proposing planning guidelines and torical architecture, public/recreational urban nerve centers is vital to their offering more substantive input for how space, water and trees – should be se- global economic competitiveness, envi- village renewal could be approached in lected as target areas for intervention. ronmental health, and socio-econo- a more creative and sustainable way. For this phase, the ETH Zurich team mic development. A lack of adequate The planning guidelines subsequently would bring in experts in historic monu- mobility is characterized by a number of discussed with the Chinese project partment preservation and biological water detrimental externalities. Chiefly, en- ners in a third phase of the project in- treatment methods in order to provide snarement of vehicles in traffic conges- cluded the suggestions suggestions for which locations to select tion, an increase in air-borne pollutants • That the model character of the pro- and what renewal, renovation and re- and higher cost of travel are symptoms ject (to be transferable) should focus on mediation strategies might be chosen of poor planning, inadequate invest- DISP 151 56 2002

ment, and ineffective governance. Inno- cally, environmentally and socio-eco- Congress of Beijing approved a devel- vative policies, regulations, and tech- nomically. opment plan to transform the Panyu Dis- nologies must be employed that enable Operational evaluation measured the trict into a new industrial and domestic mobility without sacrificing quality of programs effectiveness in achieving its platform for the city of Guangzhou to be life, clean air, or investment sectors. basic operational goals. These goals completed over the next fifty years. Six Over the past two years, we have are often performance-based criteria key development regions will form the worked closely with the municipal gov- such as increased average travel speed, foundation of the plan: the northern re- ernment in Guangzhou to develop envi- greater capacity, or a measure of volun- gion, which includes the construction of ronmentally sustainable, socially equi- tary compliance with a regulation. An a university town and the northern ad- table, and financially self-reliant trans- analysis of the costs, financial mecha- justment region; the central region, portation policies and systems [8]. This nisms employed, and the economic im- which includes the construction of objective is achieved by first reviewing pact of the policies and programs in Guangzhou New City and Shiqiao City and assessing a portfolio of urban trans- other megacities provided the basis for adjustment region; and the southern re- portation policies, regulations, and tech- financial and economic evaluation. gion, which encompasses the Nansha nologies (concentrating on those poli- From an environmental perspective, the Economic and Technological Develop- cies that make use of market forces to in- urban transportation policies and strate- ment Zone, involving the construction of fluence travel demand), and then, by gies were considered within the broad- a deep water harbor on Longxue Island, developing a series of urban transporta- er context of the environmental impact and the middle agricultural region. tion policy recommendations for the city associated with them. The goal of this subproject was to pre- of Guangzhou. Our recommendations In terms of socio-economic evaluation, dict the future water quality of the are based on interviews with senior mu- the challenges surrounding equitable Shawan River in the Panyu District, with nicipal officials, documents produced cost distribution, with regard to tolling relation to changes in the water quantity by the administration, the city’s unique and taxation policies, and the difficulty utilized to fuel industrial and domestic context, and the experience of other of capturing secondary economic bene- development up to the year 2050. The megacities throughout the world. fits were addressed. It was demon- analysis was to assess the sustainability Our research started by reviewing strated that compliance can be bol- of the development and the necessity of the context in which the policies, regula- stered by ensuring that an equitable dis- countermeasures. [9] tions, and technology have been em- tribution of costs and benefits is real- The total land area of the Panyu Dis- ployed in megacities. This was achieved ized. We also investigated methods by trict is 1313.8 km2, of which approxi- by examining the demographic, eco- which accountability and transparency mately 65% or 852.3 km2 is land and nomic, political, and environmental set- have been used to garner public sup- 35% or 461.5 km2 is made up of wa- ting in which these systems have port. terways and external water regions. evolved. Subsequently, an examination Three primary conclusions arise from Within the Panyu District, six key devel- of the municipal institutional structure, this study. First, Guangzhou, similar to opment regions will be formed, with for example, helped us to identify the or- many developing megacities, cannot fo- each region serving a predetermined ganizational constraints in which poli- cus solely on the supply of additional in- function: cies were formulated and executed. We frastructure to address its mobility prob- • North adjustment district: at present addressed the following questions: lems; it must also manage the demand this area is an important industrial base What institutional mechanisms were de- side of the equation. Second, Guang- located just south of Guangzhou city. It veloped or reformed in order to facili- zhou must employ a broad mixture of will not be developed beyond current tate the planning and execution of trans- demand-management measures simulta- levels. portation policies? How did institutional neously in order to significantly improve • Shiqiao adjustment region: this re- structure affect the capacity of these or- mobility. Third, it must develop ade- gion also will not have a high level of ganizations to develop and implement quate institutional capacity in order to development, but will form the center for the policies? design, implement, enforce effective governmental administration, transpor- What role, if any, can the private sec- transportation policies and manage sus- tation, and the exchange of goods. tor have in providing alternative institu- tainable urban transportation systems. • Guangzhou University Region: this tional structures to provide services that region will be developed into the new are typically assumed by the public sec- base for education, research and hi-tech tor? Similarly the specific policies, regu- 5 Sustainable Water Management facilities. lations, and technologies that these in the Panyu District • Guangzhou New City Region: this re- cities have employed to further their ob- The newly included area of Panyu (lo- gion is to become a new center for com- jectives were examined: each policy de- cated directly south of Guangzhou) has merce, residential housing and tourism. scription was followed by a four-part entered into a very rapid phase of in- • Nansha New Harbor Area, inclu- analysis, which appraised the impact of dustrial and residential development. In ding the Nansha economic and techno- these strategies operationally, economi- December 2000, the Central People’s logical development area, and the Pearl DISP 151 57 2002

River Management area will be a center countermeasures (industrial and domes- were presented and discussed on the for transportation, goods and service tic water savings) – sustainable initia- occasion of a joint conference in exchange, heavy industry, IT industries, tives – were nested within the two sce- Guangzhou. Yet, there were some dif- and harbor industry. It will form an im- narios to ascertain improvements in wa- ferences in the role definition by AGS portant link between Guangzhou and ter quality as a direct result of reduction teams. The work of the American and Hong Kong. in water quantity. The industrial water Japanese team focused on know-how • Agricultural Region: this region will saving countermeasure showed the exchange and transfer by collecting and be the focal point of agriculture in the greatest improvement in water quality. analyzing local Chinese data and relat- Panyu District, and will also be used as For the 90% probability of lowest flow ing it to experiences from and methods an important food processing and che- for the worst-case scenario, this counter- used in other settings. Resulting recom- mical production region. measure equated to a 63% decrease in mendations with regard to policies for The Panyu area is characterized by the amount of oxygen consumed (BOD). transportation demand management or several rivers in the tidal area. The For the low flow rate periods, the back- measures for future water resource man- Shawan River, located in the center, the ground concentration of pollutants had agement are thus to some degree trans- confluence of the Shunde River and the more influence on the future predicted ferable to similar issues faced by other Chencun Rivers, flows in roughly a west water quality than improvements ob- large cities. By contrast, the work of the to easterly direction, ultimately dis- tained by the countermeasures. It was Swiss team was more process-oriented. charging to the Shizhiyang River, which recommended that care be taken to The focus of the first project phase was forms the last section of the main chan- safeguard the flow rate of the river, as to develop a common conceptual under- nel of the Pearl River. Being located the most noticeable changes occurred standing of how to approach the prob- within the Pearl River Delta, the Shawan when the flow rate was low. In order to lem of sustainable urban renewal from River is part of a large network of inter- avoid this situation, industrial counter- an encompassing perspective – involv- connected streams and waterways. The measures appeared to have the greatest ing physical, social, economic and cul- total length of the Shawan River is 25.7 impact. Industrial countermeasures rec- tural aspects. The know-how generated km, with an average width of 300 to ommended were water saving, water re- from this model project thus focuses 600 m, and an average depth of 5 to 9 cycling, the use of brackish water for more on planning and implementation m. It is also subject to tidal interactions cooling, and the implementation of eco- processes rather than on specific con- (ebb and flow) twice a day. nomic pricing initiatives. In addition, in- tent, as local characteristics vary in In order to predict the water quality of ter-district governmental policies should each urban neighborhood. the Shawan River, two scenarios related be initiated to prevent upstream pollu- Quite obvious, but no less important to wastewater management for the tion from affecting downstream strate- is the conclusion, that most of the years 2020 and 2050 were defined: gies, further enhancing the sustainable challenges to sustainable development • Worst-case scenario – wastewater is water management of the Shawan Guangzhou faces are regional in scope not treated before discharge into the ri- River. and cannot be solved effectively within ver. Not knowing accurately what indus- the city’s institutional and territorial trial activity is likely to be located in the boundaries. New forms of planning and Shiqiao Adjustment Region and Guang- 6 Conclusions institutional cooperation among cities zhou New City Region, it was assumed Establishing a partnership between re- and provincial governments in the Pearl that no industrial wastewater would be search teams from three different coun- River Delta are required. While this is returned to the river. Therefore, the pol- tries and several disciplines with munici- particularly true for environmental issues lution load would be predominantly pal policy makers and planners in yet a such as land-use and air and water pol- from domestic wastewater. fourth country was indeed a challenge. lution, it is also relevant for the social • Best-case scenario – wastewater Geographical distance, language bar- tensions emerging in a regional society, treatment, including a high degree of riers, and the obvious as much as the segregated into increasingly well-off cit- tertiary treatment, is used to remove subtle cultural differences in working izens and large numbers of poor mi- 90% of the pollution load. As in scena- styles and planning horizons require pa- grant laborers, who, working in the fac- rio 1, the effect of industrial wastewater tience, persistence and openness in or- tories and the construction trade, con- was not included. der to build trust and some measure of a tribute much to the wealth created, with The period of simulation was for the common understanding of the issues to little gain for themselves. years 2020 and 2050. Three flow rates be addressed. were used in the evaluation: the 90% Common to the three subprojects was probability of the month of lowest flow that they picked up on issues and con- (37.2 m3/s); and the range of flow rates cerns raised by Guangzhou government Notes within the low flow period, which is the officials, and that the results of the work dry season from November to February done both by AGS teams as well as [1] This cooperation resulted in the edited (307 and 432 m3/s). Subsequently, two Guangzhou researchers and planners volume “Future Cities – Dynamics and Sus- DISP 151 58 2002

tainability” (2002). Moavenzadeh, F., Heading Towards Sustainability? Centre of Prof. Fred Moavenzadeh Hanaki, K. and Baccini, P. (eds). Dordrecht: Urban Planning and Environmental Manage- Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT Kluwer Academic Publishers. ment. Hong Kong. Center for Technology, Policy and Industrial [2] The roughly 700 persons per square kilo- Development CAMPANELLA, T.J. et al. (2002): “The Pearl meter contrast with about half that number for 77 Massachusetts Ave., E40-231B River Delta: An Evolving Region.” In YEH, A. Guangdong Province and about 133 for Cambridge, MA 02139-4307 et al. (Eds.): Building a Competitive Pearl China as a whole. National Academy Press USA River Delta Region. Centre of Urban Planning (2001). Growing Populations, Changing [email protected] and Environmental Management. The Univer- Landscapes. Washington.D.C. sity of Hong Kong (p. 10). [3] Shenzhen, little more than a fishing vil- Prof. Keisuke Hanaki lage in 1978, is now one of China’s most CHANG, B. (2001): “Infrastructure.” In Department of Urban Engineering prosperous cities with a population increase- CHUIHUA, J. et. al.: Great Leap Forward – The University of Tokyo from 20,000 in 1979 to more than 3 million Project on the City. Köln (pp. 466–701). 7-3-1, Hongo, Bunkyo by the mid-1990s (Campanella, T.J., et al., CORSON, M. (1990): The Global Ecology Tokyo, 113-8656 2002). Handbook: What you can do about the envi- Japan [4] The Great Leap Forward (2001) provides ronmental crisis. The Global Tomorrow Coali- [email protected] a visually impressive picture of the transfor- tion, Boston. mation of the Pearl River Delta during the last CRACIUN, M. (2001): “Ideology.” In CHUI- decade. HUA J. et.al.: Great Leap Forward – Project [5] This is the official population figure ac- on the City. Köln. cording to the Guangzhou Municipal Peo- ple’s Government for 2001. As rural immi- GUANGDONG PLANNING COMMISSION grants (transient laborers) are usually not in- AND PRD ECONOMIC ZONE PLANNING cluded or underestimated in official figures, OFFICE (Eds.) (1996): Planning Study on the estimates of the total population of Guang- Pearl River Delta Economic Zone, Vol. 2, zhou by other sources are closer to 10 mil- Guangzhou, Guangdong Economic Press. lion. HUGENTOBLER, M.; BRAENDLE-STROEH, [6] In 1995, the State Council announced M. (1997): “Sustainable Urban Develop- the “Implementation Plan for the National ment: A Conceptual Framework and Its Ap- Comfortable Housing Project.” Fifty-nine plication.” In Journal of Urban Technology, cities were selected to carry out experimental Vol. 4, (2), pp. 85–99. housing projects. Comfortable Housing is built for middle and low income groups NAESS, P. (1995): “Central Dimensions in a whose living area is less than 4 m2 per Sustainable Urban Development.” In Sustain- capita. The Project is regarded as a focal able Development, Vol. 3, (1) pp. 20–129. point of urban housing reform in the next five NG, M.K. (2002): “Sustainable Urban De- years. velopment Issues in Chinese Transitional [7] For a description of Zhu Village, its spa- Cities: Hong Kong and Shenzhen.” In: Inter- tial structures and political and economic or- national Planning Studies. Vol. 7 (1), pp. ganization, see Luetolf T. (2002): Zhu Cun – 7–36. A Village in the City. Department of Architec- NORMAN, O. (1996): Economic Develop- ture, ETH Zurich. A postgraduate thesis pro- ment and Environmental Policy. London. duced in conjunction with this AGS project. [8] This part draws on the master’s thesis completed in conjunction with this AGS project by Cheatham B.M. 2001. Sustainable Ur- ban Transportation in Developing Mega- Dr. Margrit Hugentobler Cities: A Review of Policies, Regulations and ETH Wohnforum/Center for Housing and Technologies. MIT, Boston. Sustainable Urban Development [9] The authors would like to thank Dr. Department of Architecture Toshiya Aramaki and Mr. James Eastcott for ETH Hönggerberg their contribution to the data collection and CH–8093 Zurich analysis for this project. Switzerland [email protected]

References Prof. Dr. Beisi Jia Department of Architecture AUSTRALIA-CHINA CHAMBER OF COM- The University of Hong Kong MERCE AND INDUSTRY OF NEW SOUTH Pokfulam Road WALES, March 8, 2002. Hong Kong BARRON, W., STEINBRECHER, N. (1999): [email protected] DISP 151 59 2002 Jacques P. Feiner, Diego Salmerón, Ernst Joos, Willy A. Schmid

Priming Sustainability: The Kunming Urban Region Development Project

For the last ten years, the city and region 1 Introduction: Framework of the 1990s, the regional dynamics of Kun- of Kunming has been marked by rapid Kunming Urban Region ming can still be guided, and there is a urban growth and a strong trend towards Development Project good chance that many future negative developments can be avoided and local modernization. Until 2020, the economy 1.1 Project Background: Environmental and regional potential can be tapped if is expected to expand strongly and the Situation, Urban Dynamics and proper, sustainability-oriented planning city’s population to double. Such a pace Institutional Framework is implemented. In this sense, Kunming of growth normally leads to a situation in The past two decades of rapid eco- is just one of many cities in China and which issues related to society, the envi- nomic growth, industrial development Asia facing similar conditions. and large scale urbanization in China The government of the People’s Re- ronment, and issues of cultural heritage have been accompanied by serious en- public of China (PRC) has taken vigor- are increasingly neglected. vironmental degradation. Soil erosion, ous steps to address the challenges Due to these dramatic circumstances, the consumption of prime agricultural land of environmental pollution and uncon- city partnership between Zurich and Kun- for urbanization, deforestation, and trolled urban growth. In 1994, the State ming, which has been in place since damage to both wetlands and grass- Council called on national and local lands are widespread. The levels of air governmental units to implement Chi- 1982, developed gradually from a cul- and water pollution are among the high- na’s Agenda 21, integrating sustainabil- tural exchange into an intensive technical est in the world. ity objectives into each level of plan- cooperation between the two cities, Urban expansion is accompanied by ning. However, implementation has so aimed at steering the strong development accelerated population growth charac- far been limited because on the one of Kunming toward a more sustainable terized by a large floating population, hand, planners and decision makers high levels of unemployment, and a were not conscious of the serious risks path. With the involvement of the Swiss growing gap between haves and have- posed by unguided urban development Development Cooperation (SDC) and the nots. Thus, additional threats are posed and were often attracted by short-term ORL Institute at the Swiss Federal Institute to the human and natural environment. benefits without considering the long- of Technology (ORL-ETH), three phases of Just as an example, inside the Greater term consequences. the overall project for the Kunming Urban Kunming Area (GKA), the surface of On the other hand, in the prevailing built areas virtually doubled between legal framework, different planning lev- Development and Public Transportation 1980 and 1997, increasing from 138 els were incoherent and overlapping. In Masterplan (KUDPTM) have been carried to 260 square kilometers while the pop- addition to this, comprehensive local out. The main contents of KUDPTM were ulation grew from 1,7 to 3,2 million. planning, which would allow an inte- regional development, traffic manage- Additionally, about a million members grated approach addressing the whole of the floating population were present territory (landscape as well as settlement and public transportation, urban in 1997. If current trends prevail, it is ment areas), is so far not existent in the landscape planning and networking and expected that the built areas will have PRC. In countries in the western hemi- dissemination. exceeded 600 square kilometers in sphere, this planning level is regarded Main successes were the implementation 2020, mono-centrically organized as the main pillar of spatial planning. of the first bus line in China and the now around the downtown area, while the Furthermore, among the administra- population will at least double again. In tive bodies concerned with spatial plan- ongoing efforts to establish a strong re- such a scenario, large areas of fertile ning, there is a strong sectoral division gional public transport system. Further- land would be consumed by urbaniza- and therefore a lack of coordination. more, the project-based collaboration tion. The transportation infrastructure This is very well illustrated by the ab- during the last nine years has strongly would be mainly car-based, which sence of a spatial planning law, which contributed to the improvement of the ur- would result in high levels of land con- among other functions should regulate sumption and air pollution, as well as a the responsibilities and duties of the var- ban planning and management skills of reduced accessibility to the city center ious government institutions. Kunming’s officials, especially when due to congestion. Furthermore, poor Thus, spatial and environmental man- dealing with sustainability issues. housing conditions, outdated produc- agement in the PRC is not only con- tion facilities, rising levels of consump- strained by the lack of financial re- tion, inadequate infrastructure and lim- sources and inadequate professional ited environmental carrying capacity capabilities, but also by poor coordina- threaten to exacerbate urban environ- tion between local and central governmental deterioration. ment and between government adminis- However, as the city and region trations on the same level, which around Kunming have started to de- causes, among other things, weak and velop rapidly since the beginning of the ambiguous enforcement of regulations. DISP 151 60 2002

When dealing with urban and re- stration high-capacity bus line, and re- more social events of the city partner- gional development in China, one of the lated traffic management measures. To ship contributed to a better understand- top requirements is thus not to address promote appropriate linkage between ing and to direct contact between ex- only one single issue or planning level, transportation and urban development, perts and political leaders and decision- but the urban system as a whole, includ- reduce the demand for mobility, and im- makers. The visits of Chinese leaders in ing its institutional aspects prove environmental quality, the project Zurich and in other European cities fur- also included technical assistance in ur- ther contributed to a good understand- ban landscape planning, regional and ing. 1.2 The Project “Carrier”: environmental planning, and in mana- • Thus, the influence of the city part- the City Partnership between Zurich ging sustainable urban development. nership on collaboration is considerable and Kunming • From 2002 to 2005, the work in the and extremely helpful, especially when different project components will be the goal is to implement projects. Imple- 1.2.1 History of Cooperation (1982 to continued, completed and consolidated. mentation is usually the most critical mo- 2002) Furthermore, it is intended that the ment in the life of a planning project. It The city partnership between the cities KUDPTM pilot experience be further ela- is also the most important, because a of Zurich and Kunming was started in borated to serve as a model approach planning project that is not implemented 1982. However, at that time it was a towards sustainable urban develop- has no value. In critical moments, such classical city partnership limited to cul- ment. The project-based collaboration as when the implementation decision tural exchange. Nearly parallel to Kun- during the last nine years has strongly was pending – for example for the de- ming’s rapid urban growth, which contributed to the improvement of the ur- monstration bus line – this partnership started at the beginning of the 1990s, ban planning and management skills of has influenced decision-making very po- the partnership developed into an inten- Kunming, especially with respect to sus- sitively and brought the project to a sive technical collaboration between the tainability issues. The to date impressive good end with success for everybody in- two cities, which was built up in differ- progress of Kunming permits us to as- volved. ent phases: sume that after 2004 the planning ad- • Between 1987 to 1994, the main fo- ministration of Kunming will gradually cus of attention was on water supply be able to steer its urban and regional 1.3 The Cooperation Mode: and waste water disposal. dynamics by itself. Therefore, after Comprehensive, Bilateral, Bottom-up • This limited approach was widened 2005, no further assistance phase – but and Top-down in 1993. The new approach included an alternative way of collaboration, a The City of Zurich experienced its great- public transportation as an important kind of a forum dealing with urban de- est development phase between 1970 component of sustainable urban deve- velopment problems on both sides – is and 1990 with the construction of the lopment and resulted in a Masterplan foreseen. highway network (until 1980) and the for Public Transportation, completed in establishment of the high capacity short 1996. This masterplan foresaw phased 1.2.2 The Political Status of the City- range railway system (S-Bahn, until development of combined bus, tram and Partnership and its Influence on 1990), when it basically developed rapid rail transportation networks with Cooperation from a city to an urban region (Greater an appropriate traffic management pro- The city partnership between Zurich and Zurich Area). At the beginning, the gram. Kunming has now been in place for 20 region experienced all the negative • In 1996, a multi-component package years. This fruitful partnership is well impacts of suburbanization and car- started to steer the urban dynamics of established in the local political net- based development, which cumulated at Kunming on a more sustainable deve- work: Project leaders on the Swiss side Zurich City proper. Since 1985, the city lopment path and to support the realiza- now have direct access to the main poli- government has implemented concrete tion of the Public Transportation Master- tical decision-makers. This makes for measures to make the city development plan. In this phase, the Swiss Agency for easy coopeoration – especially when more sustainable, and to improve the Development and Cooperation (SDC) strategically important decision making quality of life in the city center. These started to be involved, on the one hand is needed. multi-phased and multidisciplinary ef- supporting the activities of the City of Furthermore, this long lasting partner- forts were very successful and con- Zurich in Kunming and on the other, by ship has created confidence and friend- tributed a great deal to the current repu- initiating a training and research pro- ship between the responsible actors on tation of Zurich as a highly efficient city ject, which was operated by the Institute both sides, an important precondition with an excellent quality of life. During of National, Regional and Local Plan- for open discussion of problems. Be- this process, high grade know how on ning of the Swiss Federal Institute of sides cooperation work, where experi- transportaton, city and regional plan- Technology, Zurich (ORL-ETH). This ence from developed countries was ning was accumulated from projects phase encompassed the design of the mixed with Chinese behavior through- which met with international recogni- first light rail transit (LRT) line, a demon- out the project elaboration process, the tion. [1] DISP 151 61 2002

It is now interesting to see that later on 2 Project Components of the tive framework as a base for the imple- many of the personnel from Zurich’s in- Kunming Urban Region mentation of comprehensive planning. stitutional bodies, who participated as Development Project • Individual definition of guiding and engineers or planners in the build-up of planning principles for the planning Zurich’s transportation and planning 2.1 The Regional Development units on the regional, subregional and systems, were engaged as experts and Component: local levels. were consulted on the development of Encompassing the Development • Stepwise implementation of regional, Kunming. The technical know how, the of a Region as a Whole sub-regional and local surface-covering personal engagement and enthusiasm The overall goal of this component is to planning, by using cross-sectoral and of many of these experts (and politi- strengthen local and regional planning multidisciplinary approaches. cians) impressed and enthused their as an integrated and comprehensive In detail, the following subprojects Chinese counterparts, who were later planning process and to support the were carried out: responsible for implementation. planning authorities in Kunming in deal- • Suggestions for the reform of the cur- These consultations were usually or- ing with complex urban and environ- rent planning system (implementing ganized as comprehensive workshops, mental challenges. comprehensive planning in PRC): Detail- held twice a year, either in Kunming or The regional development component ed research on the current planning sys- in Zurich. Swiss experts met with their was initiated mainly because the urban tem has been undertaken and sugges- Chinese counterparts and together dis- dynamics of the city of Kunming started tions for its reform have been forwar- cussed and developed projects on dif- increasingly to affect the surrounding ru- ded. These suggestions have been taken ferent planning levels. All these work- ral hinterland. Indeed, this area, named up by all the following subprojects. shops were multidisciplinary and organ- the Greater Kunming Area (GKA), • Implementation of a GIS-based com- ized as discussion and project forums. which encompasses the most sensitive prehensive regional, subregional and They included the political decision- natural areas, including the Lake Dian local planning: In China, spatial plan- makers, the heads and some staff from Watershed Region, just started to be in- ning is so far limited to the restricted ma- various planning departments (urban volved in Kunming’s urbanization ster plan areas of Kunming and to the to- planning, transportation planning, rail- process. The risks of loosing huge wns where the county seats are located. way department, land administration, amounts of prime arable land and Comprehensive planning approaches etc.), and local leaders from the respec- greatly increasing environmental pollu- that cover the whole area – both, urban tive areas. At the end of each work- tion were obvious. and rural – are so far unknown in the shop, a project booklet explaining plan- GIS-based modelling of future settle- PCR. To attain better sustainability; how- ning intentions, concepts and projects ment development showed that through ever, it is necessary that regional dyna- was finalized and handed over to the the development of a strong regional mics be guided and that urban and rural political decision-makers. public transportation system, for exam- development be coordinated. Besides workshops, visits were organ- ple a high capacity short-range railway To demonstrate how this could be ized to broaden the experience and system, and its close coordination with done, GIS-based comprehensive re- knowledge of Chinese politicians and a decentralized but dense settlement gional, subregional and local guiding technicians, to convince them of the ne- pattern, land-use and transportation-re- plans are at work (see fig. 1), which cessity and effectiveness of the sug- lated emissions could be reduced by shall coordinate space-relevant functions gested measures and projects, for which about one-third. In addition, the various and ensure the protection of fertile land they would be responsible. urban centers in Kunming Prefecture and other natural assets. In addition, the When the complexity of a project re- would be directly interconnected by this database can be used to monitor and quired greater assistance – as in the system. This would result in a modified control urban development. Pilot proj- case of the projects involving installa- settlement pattern, which would make ects illustrate further how a surface-cov- tion of separate bus lanes and the various urban centers in the Kun- ering and sustainability-oriented local tramways – one of the Swiss experts ming region easier to reach, and would planning policy can be implemented. was transferred for two years to Kun- allow the region as a whole to function • Monitoring and controlling of urban ming to guarantee continuous assis- more efficiently. and regional development: This subpro- tance. To reach this goal, the adoption of sus- ject was started because planning alone Furthermore, scholarships were grant- tainability-oriented planning policies [2] is not sufficient. Verification of successful ed to talented members of Kunming’s and the implementation of a GIS-based implementation of suggested measures planning administration to improve their comprehensive surface-covering plan- and confirmation of whether goals set planning know how. ning system has been suggested to the forth in planning documents have been city and its region, the Greater Kunming attained are also necessary. The sub- Area (GKA). In principal, it includes the project includes tools designed to assess following steps: if development goals are met and to mo- • Setting up the legal and administra- nitor the overall environmental situation DISP 151 62 2002

bus lines (the first line is already in place, three more are to follow), the first tram line, and rapid short-range passenger railway system. (ii) Introduction of new traffic management concepts, such as the implementation of a modern transportation management strategy that promotes • Public and unmotorized transportation. • Priority to pedestrians in the central zones of the city, as well as in residential areas. (iii) Linkage of public transportation and settlement infrastructures, particularly the linkage of new satellite cities with the high capacity short-range railway system. An interesting detail was that at an early stage the collaboration in multidisciplinary project teams brought together the urban planning bureau and the railway authority, which now collaborate closely, especially on the Kunming- Songming and Kunming-Anning settlement axis. Previously, such collaboration was simply unthinkable. In general, the multidisciplinary cooperation on transportation-related issues between Swiss and Chinese, between the traffic Fig. 1: Regional guiding plan for GKA: settle- police, the transportation and planning ment and landscape. departments of the urban planning bureau, the railway authority, and the and is essentially based on sustainabi- reasons and necessities for it really other local authorities, was impressive lity indicators. It will be used for monito- known. Thus, public transportation plan- and led quickly to good results. In addi- ring environmental conditions in the ning is neglected in many Chinese tion, awareness-raising among the con- GKA and will be applied in future plan- cities, despite its strategic importance. cerned governmental agencies is a very ning and decision-making processes. However, during the elaboration of the important issue. These have to be • Regional Economic Development first Master Plan for Public Transporta- helped to understand why public trans- Strategy: To put space-related decision tion, the suggestions of the Swiss ex- making on a solid base, a Regional perts made during the workshops were Economic Development Strategy has taken up and developed further by their been developed for Kunming. It places Chinese counterparts. These include: the comparative economic strengths of (i) Technical assistance Kunming in a national and international • In the planning and implementation context. As a result, the city will be able of public transportation facilities, to en- to concentrate its funds on its principal hance Kunming’s capacity to plan, im- strengths and adjust its spatial develop- plement and operate efficient public ment accordingly. transportation systems and conduct effective traffic management. • In traffic management issues such as 2.2 The Transportation Planning organizational questions concerning, Component: Focus on the Environment for example, the street network, design Modern public transportation has nei- of intersections, and operation of the ther a long history in China nor well es- street network. tablished models to follow, nor are the • In implementation of high-capacity Fig. 2: High-capacity bus lane: Beijing Road. DISP 151 63 2002

portation is crucial to the development Both projects were no longer urban (see also Stutz [2002] in this issue of of modern, sustainability-oriented cities. planning projects in the proper sense, DISP). but included more and more landscape 2.3 The Urban Landscape Planning planning and landscape design compo- 2.4 Dissemination and Networking: and Design Component: Establishing nents. This fact was illustrated during Multiplying the Results and Preserving Urban Identity planning of the Lake Dian Eastern The project’s impact on awareness, With the incredibly rapid urban expan- Shore, which was done in close cooper- practice and policies for public trans- sion which has occurred since the be- ation with ORL-ETH on the basis of its es- portation and sustainable urban devel- ginning of the 1990s, the massive rais- tablished geographic information sys- opment will be enhanced through in- ing of skyscrapers, primarily in the city tem (GIS) based modelling of settlement creased networking activities, dissemi- center, and the gradual destruction of patterns and their land-use and environ- nation and policy dialogue. To reach the historical part of the city, it became mental planning maps. Indeed, the this goal, contacts and collaboration obvious that the dangerous monotony more this project advanced, the more have been established with the Chinese and lack of orientation in planning, environmental planning and urban land- Ministry of Construction, administrative which has unfortunately become quite scape planning united. bodies in Yunnan Province, and cities typical for many of China’s larger cities, Unfortunately, when Zurich’s Depart- like Dalian, that are interested in imple- will take place in Kunming as well. To ment for the Preservation of Historic menting similar sustainability-oriented preserve the remaining structural her- Buildings and Monuments came to Kun- projects to that for Kunming. itage and create an individual modern ming in 1997, a large part of the old face for Kunming, the urban landscape town had already been sacrificed to the planning and design component was ongoing enormous building boom. initiated. It is divided up in the following Meanwhile, Kunming has recognized 3 Results of the Kunming Urban items: the cultural value of the remainder of the Region Development Project • Urban planning, old town and in 1997 declared it a pro- • Urban landscape design, tected area. Since mid-2000, a historic 3.1 The Regional Development • Historic city preservation. city preservation office dedicated to the Component preservation of the old town has been The most important result in this collabo- Urban planning started with the plan- established in Kunming, for which coun- ration in the field of regional planning is ning of the city center and was gradu- terparts in Zurich act as advisors. Since achievement of broad acceptance for ally extended to the other areas of the then, different pilot projects have begun the development vision. This develop- Greater Kunming Area. It included strategic locations such as the South Railway Station, and the planning of new city extensions such as the north town or Kunming Southeast. Interesting details in this regard were the new town center and the structural pattern of this city extension, where special emphasis is placed on creating a strict, but interesting pattern to prevent monotony (see fig. 3). In Kunming Southeast, an existing settlement had to be restructured and refocused toward the nodes of public (railway) transport. What began with Kunming Southeast – the support of spatial development, which is conducive to public transport – was driven much further during the planning of the settlement axis from Kunming to Songming (to the east) (see fig. 4) and to Anning (in the west). Here, a main focus was to demonstrate the close dependence of transport planning and settlement development and how public transportation and the settlement pattern Fig. 3: Development Concept of Kunming could be optimally coordinated. North town (source: Stadt Zürich). DISP 151 64 2002

impressive to see how the railway department quickly realized its chance to develop a larger and more profitable railway system and how officials immediately cooperated actively: A first axis of the regional rail-bound transport system (Anning-Kunming-Yiliang) is already in an advanced state of planning and should be built before 2005. Efforts to coordinate this transportation infrastructure with the planned settlement structure in an optimal manner are in course, especially in Anning and in Kunming Southeast. • Suggestions for the reform of the current planning system (implementing comprehensive planning in PRC): As a Fig. 4: Kunming–Song Ming development novelty for the whole of China, GIS- axis (source: Stadt Zürich). based comprehensive regional, subregional (see fig. 5) and local guiding plans are drawn up to coordinate space-relevant functions and ensure protection of fertile land and other natural assets. Pilot projects illustrate how a surface-covering and sustainability-oriented local planning policy can be implemented. This comprehensive multi-level planning approach got a great deal of attention during the first Sino-Swiss Spa- tial Planning Comparative Study Semi- nar in 2001 and will, according to information from the relevant ministry, be considered during the actual elaboration of the new city planning law. • Implementation of GIS-based comprehensive regional, subregional and local planning: While the topology of the GIS-based comprehensive regional plans has been taken up and integrated into the Lake Dian protection plan, the implementation of the geographic information system on a regional level has not been taken up as yet because management of GIS projects requires a fair amount of know-how and management Fig. 5: Subregional guiding plan for Kunming skills. On the other hand, it is the only Southeast. way to link relevant data with the topo- graphy and integrate both a monitoring ment vision was devised by simulating ized network of densely built urban set- and controlling system. alternative settlement patterns using a tlements interconnected by an efficient • Monitoring and Controlling Urban GIS-based regional model and scenario and environmentally-friendly rail-bound Development: The monitoring, control- techniques (trend, which is car based, transportation system. This strategy has, ling and indicator systems have been and vision, which relies strongly on pub- in effect, been adopted by all decision- worked out, discussed, and accepted by lic transportation). The GIS-based analy- making bodies in the Greater Kunming technical experts as well as the relevant sis clearly showed the economic and Area (GKA), including the Railway De- political leadership. The implementation ecological advantages of a decentral- partment. During the meetings, it was of the indicator system suggested has DISP 151 65 2002

been adopted in the next five-year plan of the Municipal Government of Kun- ming. Thus, for the time being, main proposals and concepts have been made in this field. Implementation of these is indeed the next challenge. • Regional Economic Development Strategy: This strategy places the comparative economic strengths of Kunming in a national and international context. By doing so, the city will be able to concentrate its funds on its principal strengths and adjust its spatial develop- Fig. 6: Traffic management concept in Kun- ment accordingly. Reports illustrating ming City Proper (source: Stadt Zürich). the methodology have been forwarded to the city administration, which must elaborate the strategy itself as this is subject to laws on confidentiality. of Rapid Short-range Passenger Rail- Anning axis, and especially the plan- ways, the first of its kind in the People’s ning of the Eastern shore of Lake Dian. 3.2 The Transportation Planning Republic of China, with new train sta- On the other hand, the actual design Component tions at settlement centers (as recom- process for the new towns on the Kun- Building and operating the first bus line mended by the regional development ming-Songming and Kunming-Anning on a separate lane was a huge success component). The first part of this subur- axes and on the Eastern Shore of Lake and notice was takten of the project ban train system should be in place by Dian gave our Chinese counterparts the throughout China. Indeed, a survey car- 2005. necessary understanding and input to ried out during the World Horticultural Traffic management is successful as realize the decentralized but concen- Exhibition in Kunming in 1999 revealed well. Besides purely technical sugges- trated development pattern proposed. In that the demonstration bus lane was the tions, such as the improvement of cross- general, it was encouraging to see them second most popular project among the road design, the program Priority to working with what they had learned hundreds of projects carried out for the Pedestrians, elaborated in collaboration from previous project phases. world exhibition. Moreover, the opera- with the City Planning Institute and the tional and popular success of the first City Traffic Police to reduce non-public 3.4 Dissemination and Networking lane has led to the (independent from motorized transport in the city center, re- Cooperation and discussions with the the Swiss experts) planning of three ad- ceived a great deal of support. The Kun- Ministry of Construction (MoC), Tongji ditional lanes, one of which is already ming side announced that the imple- University and officials from many cities in construction. Meanwhile, the idea of mentation of this very progressive pro- such as Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, building a tramway has been replaced gram will start in 2003. Guangzhou, Dalian and Lanzhou, en- by the decision of the Municipal abled use of the results achieved in the Government of Kunming to first build up 3.3 Urban Landscape Planning and Kunming-Zurich collaboration project in a network of bus lines on reserved la- Design Component many other parts of China. In addition, nes. This change is based on two main Among the projects included in the Ur- the Third Sino-Swiss Symposium and the reasons: ban Landscape Planning and Design First Sino-Swiss Spatial Planning Com- • With the same amount of money, component, the most successful were the parative Study Seminar (Kunming, July many more kilometers of effective public efforts on behalf of historic city protec- transport lines can be established. tion – leading to the establishment of a • International experience proves that historic city preservation office, the pro- bus lines on reserved lanes are able to tection of the remaining part of the old transport similar numbers of passengers city and the restoration of four model to modern trams. The first line on the houses. high-capacity bus network has operated Meanwhile, measurement of the re- since April 1999, construction work for sults of the other urban design compo- a second one has been completed, and nents is more difficult; these include city two more will be built through 2004. center planning, the proposals for the As far as the regional railway system north town and the newer projects, as Fig. 7: First Sino-Swiss Spatial Planning Com- is concerned, the state-run Chinese rail- well as those for the satellite cities along parative Study Seminar (Kunming, July way organization is planning a network the Kunming-Songming and Kunming- 2001). DISP 151 66 2002

2001) were used as occasions to dis- much depends on the rank and influ- • Under the city partnership, the city seminate the results. There is no doubt ence of this body in the governmental government hosts the project partners. that the project influenced understand- administration. The quality of the project Thus, no local project infrastructure ing of the concept of sustainable urban also depends strongly on the motivation needs to be set up. development and public transportation of this sole governmental body. • The project is directly attached to the in China and contributed to the formula- • Due to the above organizational city government of Kunming. Thus, all tion of appropriate laws and regulations structure, the impact of technical colla- subordinated departmental offices, such by the MoC and by various cities. To boration is often reduced, because stra- as the department of construction, land prove this influence is difficult, but two tegically important findings are or can- administration, environment, city plan- examples may illustrate it to some extent: not be communicated to the relevant de- ning, traffic organization and police of- • The cooperation between ORL-ETH cision-makers. fices, as well as the railway authority, and MoC in the field of spatial planning • In addition, the chosen approaches can be directly involved. (visit of Chinese experts at ORL to study are often very sectoral: small- and • Under the city partnership, the pro- the Swiss spatial planning system, and middle-size city development, infrastruc- ject leaders, who are also the political the results of the Sino-Swiss spatial plan- ture support, or clean air initiatives. It is leaders, discuss the technical projects at ning seminar) has led to the integration rare to find these problems addressed the highest political level and have the of ideas and concepts from the Swiss with a broad, multidisciplinary ap- power to make decisions on implemen- spatial planning system into the new proach, which encompasses all aspects tation. This has a major influence on the Chinese city planning law. The impact of city-development. ultimate impact of a project. on the spatial development of the whole • Goals and strategies are usually defi- • The projects to be tackled are usually country could be considerable, if the ned by the donor nation and are some- suggested by local politicians or the city city planning law is gradually converted times not adapted to the local circum- planning administration, and the elabo- into a spatial planning law in the proper stances; often there are different expec- ration of projects is a common enter- sense according to government officials. tations from donor and receiver. Further- prise. As a result, most of these projects • The city of Dalian reoriented its trans- more, the administrative organization of have found their way to implementation, portation policy from planning an un- many receiver nations is often very inef- even if sometimes modified during the derground railway to the more realistic ficient and unable to incorporate the decision-making process. proposal of modernizing its old-fash- proffered know how. • Discussions on a professional level ioned tram system. After three years of • Project work is mainly done by exter- are made in workshops directly bet- discussions, five visits by experts from nal consultants. The contribution from lo- ween the responsible leaders of the dif- Zurich to Dalian and two visits by Chi- cal specialists can vary significantly, ferent institutional bodies in Zurich and nese delegations to Zurich, the construc- and with this also the appropriation and Kunming (traffic planners, urban plan- tion work for the new tramway system ownership of a project. Many times, so- ners, etc.), who exchange experience has been completed and 25 modern phisticated consultancy work is deli- and also have considerable influence tramcars are operating. vered, but because there is no capacity- on implementation. building on the recipient side, in the end • As a leading technical university was the project is not implemented success- involved, scientific input into practical fully. As a result, solutions are often not project work by Kunming and Zurich 4 Comparison of the Kunming implementable and appropriate to the planning specialists is guaranteed, thus Project with Other Bilateral or Multi- specific local circumstances. enhancing project work. Thus, a link lateral Urban Development Projects • Many bilateral and multilateral pro- between the locally based planning jects will come to an abrupt end when work and global issues like environ- 4.1 Main Characteristics of Common external funding stops, especially when mental protection can be provided. Bilateral and Multilateral Urban projects are not really appropriated by Development Projects the local counterparts. In general, the main characteristics of • When similar projects are carried out bilateral and multilateral urban develop- in different developing countries, expe- 5 Conclusions ment projects are: riences can be learned from and capita- The collaboration with Zurich has • Usually a project infrastructure needs lized on. demonstrated to Kunming ways to foster to be set up (a local office, with staff, ex- urban growth without greater automo- patriate experts, and infrastructure), 4.2 Main Characteristics of the bile dependence, air pollution and which is very expensive. Kunming Urban Region Development waste of arable land, while maintaining • Usually the project is attached to one Project good urban quality. By means of its re- administrative body, i.e. the ministry of In contrast, the main characteristics of gional multidisciplinary planning ap- construction. Whether projects have a the Kunming Urban Region Develop- proach, its investments into a strong lo- chance of being implemented now very ment Project are: cal and regional public transport sys- DISP 151 67 2002

tem, and its efforts to promote environ- able future can be created without ex- Prof. Dr. Willy A. Schmid mental protection, Kunming has the op- cessive car dependence. […] Although IRL-Institut portunity becoming a model city for fu- national aid projects are important, ETH Hönggerberg CH-8093 Zurich ture urban development in China, a there are not nearly enough of these Switzerland model which is most urgently needed. city-to-city partnerships, which can offer [email protected] This would not have been possible with- so much due to the shared experience of out the input of the sister city Zurich. people who have to work on a city The current achievements rely very level.” heavily on the relationship of trust between experts and public officials from the twinned cities, as well as on study trips organized for decision-makers to Notes European cities that have modern bus [1] For example in the book Sustainability and tramway operations, advanced and Cities by Peter Newman and Jeffrey Ken- transport organization, and extensive worthy, Island Press, Washington DC, USA, pedestrian zones, and which follow a 1999. policy of coordinated development of [2] Outline of sustainability-oriented plan- transportation and settlement patterns. ning policies: Due to shared experiences on the – Promoting Kunming as the main future cen- same city level, collaboration with spe- ter of population and economic activity in cialists on both sides has furthermore Yunnan Province (and relieving rural areas of proved to be a very successful ap- surplus population). proach. It also showed that the usual – Actively preparing the Greater Kunming negative factors of foreign planning sup- Area for its future role as an agglomeration of regional size (planning and coordinating port, such as missing field experience settlement and transportation patterns; pro- and the lack of implementation, as well moting a decentralized concentration of ur- as the use of unadapted planning poli- ban settlements inside the urban region, leav- cies and tools, have never been an is- ing space for nature; promoting mass trans- sue. portation and unmotorized transportation; These negative factors did not be- promoting mixed uses around city-centers). come issues because responsibility for – Promote clustering of same type industries implementation was automatically as- and services at best-adapted locations, and sumed by the locally rooted Kunming hinder further spreading of polluting low-tech authorities. As the collaboration was or- industries in remote rural areas. – Protect historic sites and city centers and ganized in workshops, it required com- original functions, by keeping the original paratively little input in terms of money population. and time from the Zurich side. Despite the small input, the results are impressive and generally appreciated by specialists worldwide. The value of the col- Dr. Jacques P. Feiner IRL-Institut laboration is very well characterized by ETH Hönggerberg statements by Professor Peter Newman CH-8093 Zurich of Murdoch University in a letter to the Switzerland City Mayor of Zurich: “It did not surprise [email protected] me to hear that the kind of values which drove you to create such a fine city Diego Salmerón [Zurich] would now see that there is a IRL-Institut responsibility to extend this to cities that ETH Hönggerberg are struggling with similar issues in CH-8093 Zurich other less wealthy parts of the world. Switzerland […] The importance of the project that [email protected] the City of Zurich has initiated in Kun- Ernst Joos ming is even more important I feel than Lahnstrasse 81 the example you have set in Europe. The CH-8200 Schaffhausen world is desperately needing examples Switzerland of cities that are showing how a sustain- [email protected] DISP 151 68 2002 Lin Wei, Tang Chong

Theory and Practice of Bus Lane Operation in Kunming

Taking into consideration its present ur- cient urban traffic system will dictate der China’s specific urban traffic cir- ban economic standards and population whether or not the city can accomplish cumstances, the critical issue facing Chi- scale, the City of Kunming adopted a de- sustainable and healthy urban social nese cities with over one million people and economic development. is how to implement a “public-transit- velopment strategy which gives priority to In order to thoroughly solve Kunming’s first” strategy in terms of technology and people’s needs and public transit, pays urban traffic problems, since 1993, the how to modernize the traditional bus enough attention to the environment, and city has cooperated on matters of tech- system. Experts on traffic from Kunming supports Kunming’s sustainable develop- nology with its international partner city, and Zurich have cooperated to implement. In accordance with the public-tran- Zurich, Switzerland. Using advanced in- ment the “Model Bus Lane Project of ternational theories from Swiss experts Kunming,” which strives to reflect the fol- sit-first policy, Kunming successfully rolled and incorporating the successful experi- lowing ideas and principles: out China’s first center-lane bus lane dur- ence of urban traffic planners from large • Transportation efficiency: The bus ing the 1999 World Horticultural Exposi- Chinese cities, Kunming established its lane ought to be highly efficient, this tion. Recent surveys show that the bus own urban traffic development strategy, being guaranteed by strict special-use lane is outstanding with regard to both which “gives priority to people’s needs rights, minimal transverse disturbance, and public transit” and created a blue- the quick running of buses, and shorter environmental protection and passenger print for its modern public transit system, delays at stops and intersections. transport efficiency. Kunming’s long-term with a focus on rail traffic. • Service standard: The concept of goal is to shift the burden of public transit Considering its present urban eco- “giving priority to people’s needs” from buses to rail lines. Besides reporting nomic standards and population scale, should be fully represented, including on the implementation phase and impacts Kunming adopted a development strat- good riding and waiting environments, egy in which urban public transit will be continuity and passenger comfort du- of Kunming’s first center-lane bus lane, an constructed phase by phase. In the im- ring the entire traffic process, accurate overview of existing challenges and pro- mediate phase, the traditional bus sys- information for passengers, a conveni- posed improvements is presented. tem will be modernized and further de- ent and fair ticketing system, all with re- veloped by instituting a public-transit- spect and consideration for the passen- first policy. In addition, a large-capacity gers.

This paper was first presented at the Third Sino- transit-only lane will be opened, which • Network system: The entire public Swiss Symposium on Sustainable Urban Develop- will improve Kunming’s urban traffic transit network’s service function must ment and Public Transportation Planning, Kunming, conditions immediately. Kunming’s be upgraded. This includes making a October 2001. medium and long-term planning goal is good space structure and grading struc- to shift the burden of public transit from ture, as well as forming a convenient buses to rail lines. and efficient passenger-transfer system In accordance with this concept, Kun- between different bus routes (covering 1 Survey ming successfully rolled-out China’s first mainly transfer distance and expenses). During the past twenty years and espe- center-lane bus lane during the 1999 • Environmental protection: Improving cially since the 1990’s, Kunming’s soci- World Horticultural Exposition. On the environmental quality is an important ety and economy have developed rap- basis of this, Kunming opted for a grid- target of the project, which has a bear- idly and its urban construction continues shaped buslane network, which is to be ing on two aspects. The reduction of the to improve. In spite of the city’s remark- built in the near future. Construction of noise level on Kunming’s roads and the able achievements, restraints imposed such a network aims to upgrade travel- decrease of tail gas pollution will come on urban sustainable development by ing efficiency, turning downtown Kun- about as the city implements the public- population, resource and environment ming into a “paradise” for bus users be- transit-first policy and people start to use issues are getting more and more obvi- cause of the efficiency of its public tran- other vehicles to move about the city. Se- ous. The urban infrastructure, especially sit system. condly, the public transit vehicles’ per- the urban traffic system, can hardly bear formance in meeting environmental pro- the growing burden. Within the last few tection standards should also be consi- years, urban traffic volume has in- 2 Principle for Design of Kunming’s dered. creased incredibly and citizens now suf- Bus Lane fer from difficulties when traveling on In large cities with growing populations foot or by bicycle, car, or bus. These and high construction density, the only 3 Major Design Characteristics of problems need to be solved immedi- way to solve urban traffic problems is to Kunming’s Bus Lane ately. In addition, traffic jams are lead- implement a public-transit-first strategy. Kunming’s bus lane has not only ing to noise and environmental pollu- Developing large-scale public transit is adopted the latest foreign ideas in pub- tion. In the new century, Kunming’s abil- the common view of urban traffic plan- lic transit design, but has also taken the ity to develop a modern and highly effi- ners from all of China’s large cities. Un- specific conditions of China’s cities into DISP 151 69 2002

consideration. The construction and use Many cities in China have opened transfer. At the intersection of more than of Kunming’s buslane challenged tradi- bus lanes, but most of them are built on two routes, each route’s stops should be tional China’s public transit develop- the outside lane, which is not optimal close to each other, shortening the walk- ment methods in many ways and sur- because the buses are seriously hind- ing distance for transferring between vived the test of time. The successful op- ered by exiting and entering traffic and buses as much as possible. Obviously, eration of the bus lane is an important vehicles parked in the bus lane. In cen- intersections are the most convenient symbol of fundamental changes in Kun- tral urban areas suffering from very con- rendezvous for people and buses from ming’s urban traffic development orien- gested traffic and too many intersec- all directions making them the best tation. We hope that Kunming’s use of tions, locating bus lanes on the inner- choice for location of bus stops. lf the the bus lane can provide some valuable most lane offers buses the best running platform is arranged at the exit of the in- experience to other sister cities, thereby conditions and allows them to reach the tersection, passengers can easily find improving their public transit. The fol- large traffic-carrying capacity of a light their way out and the arrangement of lowing is a brief summary of the major railway. This is the ideal concept for a the intersection can be relatively easy. design characteristics of Kunming’s bus bus lane. In order to fully represent the From this point of view, one of the basic lane. idea of “public transit first” and up- characteristics of modern public transit grade public transit transport efficiency, systems are the bus stops set up at inter- 3.1 Route of the Bus Lane Kunming has adopted the inside-type sections. Only with these can the effi- Kunming’s bus lane runs along the most bus lane as described. ciency of the public transit network re- important south-to-north artery (Beijing ally be upgraded. Road) artery network, which includes 3.3 Stop Location along the Bus Lane three East-West roads and four North- The location of the bus stops has a great 3.4 Platform Type for Bus Lane South roads. With a total length of five impact on the bus route’s service scope Adhering to the design concept of “giv- kilometers, the Beijing Road lane runs and standard. Taking the walking time ing priority to people’s needs,“ modern through the entire central area of the of passengers before and after board- public transit pays thorough attention to city, which is home to large numbers of ing the bus into consideration, we find passenger comfort and safety. To spare government, commercial, and financial that a short distance between two stops passengers long waiting times, the ca- buildings on both sides. At opposite can shorten the total travel time. There- pacity of public transit should be en- ends of the lane are the major passen- fore, in Kunming’s central urban area, larged, necessitating platforms long ger railway station of the city and the characterized by a dense population enough for a quick and convenient flow freight railway station. The road is the and concentrated housing units, the of passengers. In addition, since the traditional axial road, which before the buses stop at frequent intervals. There platform stands between lanes for pri- bus lane was added, used to be a very are seven pairs of stops along the bus vate vehicles, the waiting area should inefficient transportation route due to lane currently operating in Kunming, be large enough to guarantee safety. traffic jams. During rush hours, the aver- with an average distance of 541 meters Therefore, the platforms along the bus age speed of private vehicles along the between each stop. lane throughout Kunming are designed road was only about 12 km/h and that The most important factor in deciding to be 65 meters long and 3.5 meters of buses was lower than 10 km/h. Re- the location of bus stops was facilitation wide. These will also serve as the plat- distribution of Beijing Road’s traffic ac- of passenger arrival, departure, and forms for the future light railway. cording to the principle of “public transit first” and establishment of the bus lane turned the road into a highly efficient 4 Result of the Implementation of passenger transportation thoroughfare Kunming’s Bus Lane and improved the prosperity of the facil- The buslane in Kunming opened for traf- ities along the road. fic on April 20, 1999. The lane has greatly improved the service standard 3.2 Bus Lane of Kunming’s public transit, becoming a Establishing bus lanes is the most effec- main thoroughfare during the World tive way to improve urban public transit. Horticultural Exposition. Meeting the de- On average, the one-way transport ca- sign goal of smooth and highly efficient pacity of a bus lane is about 6,000 peo- transportation, the lane has been well ple per hour. By adopting special meas- received by people in the transportation ures, the figure can reach 15,000 to industry and from all walks of society. 20,000 persons per hour, equivalent to We studied traffic flow (of private ve- between five to 20 ordinary mobile vehicles) at typical intersections and under hicle lanes. In the bus lanes, the buses Fig. 1: Beijing Road, Kunming: The first bus normal bus operating conditions along can reach 16 to 22 km/h or more. lane, located on the middle lane. the lane in order to demonstrate the re- DISP 151 70 2002

Before opening the After opening the bus lane Increase and bus lane reduction (after 2 months) (after 2 years) (after 2 years)

Car traf 1,840 per hour 1,326 per hour 1,611 per hour –12.4% traf * 2,150 cars/hour 1,740 cars/hour 2,039 per hour – 5.0% volume: cepted by people from more and more Non public social circles, which has promoted inti- transp. vehic. 4,233 people/h 3,051 people/h 3,921 people/h – 7.4% macy and exchange among people Bus 9,936 people/h 11,256 people/h 12,000 people/h +21.0% from various social groups. Total** 14,169 people/h 14,307 people/h 15,921 people/h +12.4%

Actual transport 5 Problems with Kunming’s Bus capacity of buses 11,040 people/h 16,000 people/h 16,000 people/h +45.0% Lane and Countermeasures Occupancy rate of buses*** About 90% About 70% About 75% –17.0% 5.1 Illogical Arrangement of Intersections Per capita The intersections of Kunming’s major ar- delay at stops 68 seconds 46.2 seconds 47.9 seconds –29.6% teries have always been the place Average where all kinds of traffic modes compete speed of buses 9.6 km/h 15.2 km/h 15.0 km/h +56.3% for time and space. In addition, the intersections with the most concentrated Average board- traffic counterflows are also on the main ing/desc. time 56 seconds 23 seconds 28 seconds –50.0% arteries. The special use of public transit rights and the relatively wide platform at * Cars, buses and trucks changed into standard car units intersections for the inside-type bus lane ** have seriously narrowed traffic space *** Reduction means increase in comfort for other types of transportation. Nar- Table 1: Inspection result of traffic flow at row and short exit and entry lanes at in- typical intersections. tersections lead to two major problems. First, private vehicles and bicycles seriously hinder each other at the exit and entry lanes. The traffic there is disorgan- sults of this project. The data shows that improved Kunming’s urban traffic condi- ized, with low passing efficiency and the bus lane is outstanding with regard tions, but also benefited the majority of serious hidden hazards. Second, the to both environmental protection and the citizens and received praise from length of the vehicle queue exceeds that passenger transport efficiency. the public. of the widened section, resulting in a blockage between vehicles going in all 4.1 Operational Status of Public Transit 4.3 Comprehensive Evaluation directions. There are three ways to im- The average speed of public transit in Implementation of the project has re- prove this situation. First, the width of in- the downtown area before: 9.6 km/h; sulted in more reasonable and just dis- tersection entry lanes for mobile vehi- after: 15.2 km/h; an increase of 68%. tribution of sparse urban traffic space. cles can be reduced appropriately, The average boarding and discend- Transport efficiency and the service since the speed of the vehicles at inter- ing time at stops in the central area be- standard of public transit have been up- sections is relatively slow. Secondly, the fore: 56 seconds; after: 23 seconds; an graded. At the same time, when the width of the platform at intersections improvement of 59%. flow of people and the city’s vigor are can be reduced to 2.5 or 3.0 meters strengthened, the private vehicle traffic from the original 3.5 meters according 4.2 Citizens’ Attitude flow, exhaust pollution, and noise pollu- to passenger flow. Finally, the length of In order to measure the response of Kun- tion are reduced, and the urban land- the widened section at intersections ming’s citizens to the bus lane, we car- scape is improved. Our success with the should be rationally determined accord- ried out two surverys. One was con- “public-transit-first” idea provides a so- ing to the length of the queue. ducted after the project had been put lution to society and government for into operation (1999), while the other dealing with traffic and environmental 5.2 Unsatisfactory Arrangement of was held before the construction of the problems. The project was a major turn- Platforms at Some of the Intersections second bus lane (2001). In 1999, the ing point for urban traffic development Since there are no isolation barriers be- total satisfaction rate of citizens toward in Kunming, widely acknowledged by tween the sidewalk and the platforms at the project was 79%. In 2001, the total domestic and foreign academic circles some intersections, some passengers di- satisfaction rate was over 96% (active on urban traffic. In addition, the public rectly cross over several private vehicle support: 56.3%; support: 39.9%; indif- transit service has cared for passenger lanes in order to enter and exit bus ferent: 3.0%; objection: 0.8%). The sur- comfort and safeguarded the transit stops. The situation can easily lead to veys demonstrate that the “public-transit- rights of citizens, especially those with traffic disruption, or worse, accidents. first” strategy in Kunming has not only low income. Public transit has been ac- We plan to set up the necessary traffic DISP 151 71 2002

facilities needed to restrain incorrect Routes that partially cover and inter- passenger traffic activities and to guide sect with (transfer to) the bus lane can Fig. 2: Renmin Road, Kunming: The second them to pedestrian walkways at the in- only be partially improved or benefited. bus lane with platforms at intersections. tersections. Therefore, the function and service scope of the lanes is limited. The prac- 5.3 Serious Cross Traffic Interference in and disembarking, and environmental tice has demonstrated that in order to ef- Some of the Sections friendliness. The current economic posi- fectively improve the public transit serv- Since some of the sections along the tion of the municipality of Kunming is ice standard of a certain area, both the buslane have not been equipped with not strong enough to allow the purchase efficiency and service standard of the in-lane isolation barriers according to of a large quantity of high quality buses. public transit system need to be up- the design, there can be serious conse- Meanwhile, the domestic bus market is graded as a whole. From the public quences; these include U-turns by pri- not able to provide the ideal types of transit user’s point of the view, starting vate vehicles, left turns by vehicles to buses. Apart from inadequate overall and finishing points for journeys are and from buildings along the lane cross- performance, Kunming’s current buses widely scattered. Unless the entire net- ing lanes for straight-running traffic, and are criticized for their small doors and work is highly efficient, large numbers crossing by pedestrians and bicycles. their extremely narrow passageways for of potential passengers will not really be The situation is getting more serious, es- passengers entering the buses. This seri- attracted to public transit. That is why al- pecially during the rush hour, greatly af- ously affects passenger boarding, dis- though the public transit capacity of fecting the efficiency of buses along the embarking, and flow. In the future, Kun- Kunming’s bus lane increased by nearly bus lane. The in-lane isolation barrier ming will purchase a new type of large- 50%, the number of passengers in- and even the movable barrier at some volume, large-door, and low-floor bus creased by only 13%. We therefore sections need to be extended. More- with information displays and good en- need to construct a bus-only road net- over, pedestrian signal lights should be vironmental protection performance. work of the proper density as quickly as installed to regulate pedestrians cross- possible as well as need to optimize the ing the road. 5.6 Excessive Allocation of Buses’ public transit network arrangement and Transport Capacity take effective measures to eliminate or 5.4 Excessively Long Signal Cycle at Since the bus lane system was opened, reduce obstacles to transfer from route Intersections the public transit operation department to route. Since public transit was granted special has allocated many routes to run along Based on the success of the first bus road-use rights, the signal delay at inter- it. There are over 20 bus routes that lane, taking the central urban area as sections has become a major factor af- wholly or partially cover the lane. The the core, Kunming will construct a grid fecting operational efficiency. Currently, route network is not meticulously de- style public transit-only road network in the traffic signal control mechanism in signed and arranged. A large number the near future. The second bus lane is Kunming is still arranged for car traffic of “rubbish routes” have been designed in the construction preparation phase; and one signal cycle during the rush to cover the bus lane without benefit to when completed a +-shaped prelimi- hour can be as long as 200 seconds. the overall service standard. At the nary bus-only road network will be The long signal cycle has increased de- same time, the excess transport capacity formed together with the existing bus lays for buses at intersections as well as usually means that the number of arriv- lane along Beijing Road. The design for the waiting period passengers entering ing vehicles exceeding the volume of the No. 2 bus lane has taken experience and exiting the platforms. In line with platform during peak periods of opera- and lessons from the first one into con- experience gained in other countries’ tion. The buses have to wait at intersec- sideration leading to improvements in and Kunming’s reality, we are going to tions for the next signal cycle, which re- lane distribution and platform design. shorten the signal cycle to increase the duces the efficiency of the bus lane. chance of buses having green lights at Measures taken to solve this problem intersections. In this way, waiting at sig- will involve optimizing the route network 6Supporting Measures for nals can be reduced and buses’ opera- structure and rational allocation of bus Kunming’s Bus Lane tional efficiency can be upgraded. routes for the lane. In principle, the bus lane should be reserved for operation of 6.1 Establishing and Publicizing Urban 5.5 Unsatisfactory Selection of the those bus routes with large transport ca- Traffic Policies Type of Buses pacity and high service standards. We are establishing Kunming’s urban The type of buses selected has great im- traffic development policy that “gives pact on public transit’s operational effi- 5.7 Single Passageway Restricting priority to people’s needs and public ciency and service standard. The basic Efficiency transit, pays enough attention to the en- characteristics of modern public transit The single bus lane can only upgrade vironment, and supports Kunming’s sus- vehicles include comfort, high occu- the efficiency of the bus routes along the tainable development” as quickly as pancy rates, convenience for boarding lane. possible. To promote the bus lane net- DISP 151 72 2002

work we are publicizing and imple- 6.4 Giving Priority to Public Transit KUNMING-ZURICH PUBLIC TRANSIT PLAN- menting the policy, winning understand- Signals NING GROUP (1997): Planning on Urban ing and support from all walks of soci- We are studying and implementing tech- Bus Route Network and Station of Kunming. ety, guaranteeing smooth implementa- nological and management measures to KUNMING-ZURICH PROJECT OFFICE ON tion and efficient operation. give priority to public transit vehicles at PUBLIC TRANSIT PLANNING (1997): Plan- intersections in coordination with the ning Design for Demonstration Urban Bus 6.2 Restricting Car Transportation formation of the bus-only road network. Routes of Kunming. Controlling parking lot areas downtown Based on technological considerations, KUNMING PLANNING AND DESIGN RE- within an appropriate scale, encourag- the work is divided into three phases. SEARCH INSTITUTE (2000): Planning on Bus ing construction of public parking facili- First, the signal cycle is to be shortened Lane Network and Station of Kunming. ties, and applying a parking system are to reduce the average waiting time of WEI, Lin (1999): Design Concept for Modern important means to control car traffic the buses. Second, the signal-matching Bus Routes, City Planning. demand. Further ways to control private plan for minimizing dual waiting time of car use are park-and-ride and bike-and- buses is to be compiled and imple- ride traveling experiments around the mented in accordance with a regular large-scale residential areas on the out- public transit-dispatching plan. Third, skirts of the city, rationally guiding the we shall study the possibility of giving Lin Wei interaction of traffic modes, and reduc- green lights to buses as they approach Kunming Urban Planning and Design Institute Tangjiaying/Baita Road ing traffic pressure in the central urban intersections. 650041 Kunming (Yunnan) area. In addition, we encourage pedes- People’s Republic of China trian traffic and are creating good con- 6.5 Modernizing the Operation [email protected] ditions for it, while opening more and Schedule better pedestrian zones in business cen- We will adopt new technologies to ters with developed public transit. gradually construct a GPS-based public Tang Chong transit operation schedule center or Kunming Urban Planning and Design Institute 6.3 Optimizing the Road Network other electronic positioning systems, Tangjiaying/Baita Road Structure with the objective of improving public 650041 Kunming (Yunnan) • Carrying out optimization and inte- transit’s operational efficiency and serv- People’s Republic of China gration over the functional structure of ice standards. the urban road network. • Giving full play to the functioning of 6.6 Public Transit Ticket System and current traffic resources and upgrading Reform of Public Transit Market the overall passing ability of the road We will speed up the ticketing-system re- network. form and import an IC card ticket sys- • Focusing on a scientific and accurate tem. The charging mechanism should orientation of road functions. aim to increase transfer efficiency and • Straightening out relationships of the represent the principle of fair pricing. intersections and giving full play to traf- We will also stipulate policies and fic functions of the sub-arteries and by- measures on public transit market man- pass system (opening one-way streets, agement; break monopolistic operation setting up curb parking lots, establishing and adopt market competition mecha- a bicycle-only system and a pedestrian nisms in accordance with the reform of zone). state-owned enterprises; promote the service standard of public transit and minimize the financial burden of the government.

References

KUNMING-ZURICH EXPERT GROUP FOR KUNMING URBAN PUBLIC TRANSPORTA- TION SYSTEM PLANNING (1996): Urban Fig. 3: Intersection with two bus lanes and Development and Public Transportation Mas- four platforms. terplan. DISP 151 73 2002 Werner Stutz

Old Town Preservation in Kunming

Within the framework of the city partnership between Zurich and Kunming, a group of Swiss experts in historic preservation started to support Kunming’s preservations efforts in 1996. In the initial phase, the intensive collaboration between Swiss and Chinese colleagues focused on evaluating historical building substance in the protected areas of Kun- ming. In 1997, the “Wen Ming Protection Area” was established. Soon afterwards, a pilot project involving the complete renovation of a historic house was initiated. In the meantime, the Kunming Street Block and Building Protection Office has been established. It plans to extend protection efforts to the entire city in 2003 and 2004.

Fig. 1: Map of the City of Kunming in 1909.

1 Historical Kunming Endangered Kunming, the capital of Yunnan tiled roofs and richly carved facades. Kunming, like every other Chinese Province in southwestern China, is nick- These houses were built in the 19th and metropolis in the past decade, experi- named “City of Spring” because the early 20th centuries using the construc- enced out enormous, rapid building de- trees and plants proliferating throughout tion principles, materials, and form lan- velopments causing sweeping urban the city are covered with rich foliage all guage of a centuries-old building tradi- change. Skyscrapers shot up like mush- year round. In ancient times, it was an tion. rooms, multiple-lane transportation ar- important gateway to the Silk Road. The Today, Kunming has around two teries were built through narrow city dis- city was founded during the Tang Dy- million inhabitants living on approxi- tricts. The extensive historical city center nasty (618 to 907 A.D.) and the oldest mately eighty km2. Yunnan Province, quickly disappeared and the old city city walls date from the 8th century. which covers an area almost ten times walls and gates simply vanished. How- Even at the beginning of the 1990’s, larger than Switzerland, has over forty ever, both Ming Dynasty (1368 to 1644 travel guides described as essential ele- million inhabitants, and Kunming is the A.D.) pagodas, which were destroyed ments of this city small-scale, one to two- only large city within a radius of hun- in the 19th century, were rebuilt and a storey districts characterized by wood- dreds of kilometers. As a result, the city few temple complexes were spared. The en and clay-brick houses with sloping is experiencing immense population traditional Chinese city structure, with its growth, and in addition it is estimated special orientation and ordering princi- that around 600,000 to 800,000 mi- ples, is barely legible now. The former grant workers from northern China as government city Kunming has almost Fig. 2 to 4: In the late 1990s, a trend to de- well as neighboring Vietnam, Burma completed the transition to a modern molition prevailed in the historical center of and Laos live here. service center. The quick tempo, with Kunming. DISP 151 74 2002

Zurich. Due in part to efforts by repre- However, the first preservation con- sentatives from Zurich within the frame- cepts for the northern city center near work of the project “City Development the romantic Flower-Bird Market as well Kunming -- Public Transportation Master- as the proposal for a protection perime- plan,” protection of the historical city ter and for an inventory, albeit minimal, center became an important theme in of the protected buildings, were met 1996. A group of Swiss specialists, un- with success. This moved Kunming offi- der the leadership of planner and archi- cials to establish the “Wen Ming Protec- tect Carl Fingerhuth, supported all ef- tion Area” in February 1997, a cohe- forts in Kunming to retain the structures sive, almost 40,000 m2 area where and buildings of the old city which were demolition of existing buildings and more important and necessary for resi- erection of new buildings was prohib- dents, for a common city identity and for ited. To the author’s knowledge, Kun- cultivating Western and Chinese tourism ming is one of the few cities in China than steel and glass skyscrapers that that is prepared to use such zoning look exactly like those in Singapore, measures, not only for individual histori- Bangkok or Frankfurt. cal monuments, for example temple Unfortunately, the first efforts at preser- complexes, but also for larger continu- vation and proposals for legal protection ous areas of houses and commercial for the southern parts of the historical buildings. Fig. 5, 6: Buildings in the city center of Kun- city center near the two Ming pagodas Kunming city officials have still not de- ming which are interesting from a typological were ignored by the decision-makers. clared how they plan to enforce these or stylistic point of view. There, the old, narrow north-south axis, protective measures. Although buildings lined with trees and decorative two-story were not demolished in the “Wen Ming wooden houses, had to make way for a Protection Area,” they were neither ren- faceless highway. Instead of a winding ovated nor restored, despite the fact that which old, small wooden houses are re- district of historical small houses be- skilled workers were available that placed with new, up to 100 meter tall tween the two pagodas, there is an im- could have repaired the old walls and glass and steel skyscrapers is breathtak- mense boulevard with pseudo-historical woodwork – everything from a door to ing for Europeans, and the pace even palaces and a massive, fortified city a handrail. The reasons are multi-lay- increased because of the International gate where before there was none. ered and include the lack of investors Garden Exposition (Expo 99), with 15 and necessary funds, insufficient politi- million visitors expected. A few rem- cal willpower, and opposition from pri- nants of the historical city center have vate property owners. survived, although the buildings were and remain in a critical condition: not only do they lack modern sanitary infra- 3 Adequate Inventory Methods structure, but the entire substance of In the spring of 1998, also within the buildings – from flooring, structural framework of the Zurich-Kunming City members and walls to the weed-over- Partnership, Zurich’s Department of His- grown tiled roofs – would need thor- torical Preservation offered its services ough renovation. and extensive experience. Intensive collaboration between Swiss and Chinese colleagues began that focused in a first 2Wen Ming Protection Area phase on inventoring and evaluating the Parallel to the trend to demolition pre- historical building substance in the pro- vailing the end of the 1990s, Kunming’s tected areas of Kunming. With the ex- politicians and planning department be- pertise of building researcher Margrit gan the slow process of reconsidering Christensen, the Swiss team developed what was happening. Terms like sustain- a simple, easy-to-learn and comprehen- ability, identity, and historical con- sible inventory method. A precise and sciousness, were used more and more systematic record of existing elements is by younger city planners. These people a prerequisite for the best, most objec- received support from Swiss specialists, Fig. 7, 8: Buildings in the Wen Ming Protec- tive evaluation of an object, to deter- because of the city partnership estab- tion Area, surrounded by newly built sky- mine to what extent protective measures lished in 1982 between Kunming and scrapers. need to be taken and for regulation of DISP 151 75 2002

facade, including construction details and any decorative painting or carving work.

Inventory of Street Blocks • A map of both old and new buildings, as well as buildings that are determined to be incongruent or disturbing. • Drawings and photographs of cha- racteristic roof landscapes. • An inventory of the circulation system (streets, alleys and squares) using cartography and photography. • The development of a typology of existing historical buildings, i.e. courtyard houses in their many different variations.

Inventory of Individual Buildings • Measurement of the building and best-possible documentation of the facades, plans and sections. • Description and documentation of the condition of and furnishings in individual rooms.

The Swiss team began making an inventory of the “Weng Ming Protection Area” in the summer of 1998, with the help of a local planner. This led to the first evaluations of the houses. In particular an inventory was made of the most significant facades in the narrow alleys as daily markets are held in the streets and a scenic background helps high- light tourist attractions. This aspect was of first priority to Kunming officials, even more since protecting historic building substance has little tradition in China. Above all, determining the form that subsequent new buildings on a particular site may take, will become more important in China, even though they are constructed from more modern building Fig. 9: Inventory of the historical building materials, for example concrete instead substance in the protected areas of Kunming. of wood. individual objects and groups of build- Inventory of Street Facades 4 Pilot Project Jin Lan Tea House ings, including how they are used. • Sketches of the facade, drawn to Soon afterwards, the Kunming officials Above and beyond the framework of scale and noting materials, present state suggested that a pilot project be initi- this know how transfer, precise observa- condition and any changes or interven- ated, where colleagues from Zurich tion, recording and analysis techniques tions that have damaged its original ap- would accompany the entire process of were needed, in order to support Chi- pearance. completely renovating a historic house – nese efforts to understand and assess • Photographic documentation of the from inventory to the last brushstroke – the value of their cultural buildings. in an exemplary manner. Renovation of DISP 151 76 2002

Block and Building Protection Office was In October 1999, in cooperation with Fig. 10: The pilot project Jin Laan Tea House the result of intensive exchanges be- Zurich’s Department of Historic Preser- has been carefully restored. tween representatives from Kunming and vation, a six-day inventory seminar was Zurich. Two Kunming preservation spe- held in Kunming. In addition to planners cialists visited Zurich’s Department of His- and architects from both cities, cowork- a traditional wooden two-storey court- toric Preservation in September 1999 ers from Kunming Museum (who are in- yard house provided by the city, should and gathered information on making involved with antiquities in general) and become a cornerstone for the restora- ventories, archiving and practical preser- four students from the architecture de- tion of the entire historic city center – an vation, as well as management pro- partment of Yunnan Polytechnical Uni- example for private investors and a cesses, financial systems and legislation versity took part. In line with the inven- prestigious showpiece for international from both city and cantonal representa- tory methods developed in 1998, we in- collaboration in the area of cultural as- tives. In addition, they visited buildings troduced the participants to the methods set maintenance. This project turned out being renovated as well as already re- used for recording, documentation and very differently and yet a lot better than stored buildings, and took part in work- evaluation of the substance of historic we had ever hoped. The city of Kunming shops and commission meetings, where buildings. Further, we dealt with use bought a house and estimated the reno- questions regarding the protective merits analyses for houses and groups of vation costs. Then, exact drawings of of individual buildings were discussed. houses, how to document damage in- the existing house were made, rooms were documented and photographs taken, and an analysis made of various future uses for the house. However, the private owner, who had originally bought the house as a demolition object, was faster. By the time of our next visit to Kunming, the house had already been repaired, carefully restored and furnished as a tea house – a substance- friendly use for the building. In the meantime, the Jin Lan Tea House has been put on the list of the “Unesco Asia- Pacific Heritage Awards for Cultural Heritage.”

5 Professional Exchange and Know How Transfer as the Foundation for an Office for Historic Preservation in Kunming In the summer of 2000, in Kunming’s city planning department a special historic preservation office was founded – the “Kunming Historical Street Block and Building Protection Office” – that now officially takes care of protecting and overseeing all forms of renovation in the historic city center. The new office presented itself to the public in a festive manner by means of poster campaign and by distributing informative pam- phlets that contained guidelines for dealing with historic buildings; the opening was well covered by the press. The establishment of this office became the key Fig. 11: The Kunming Historical Street Block to the first real successes in the area of and Building Protection Office made public its historical city preservation in Kunming. plan to extend efforts to the entire rest of the The founding of the Historical Street city. DISP 151 77 2002

gling to maintain and renovate their own old properties for financial reasons. Typically, up to six families live in cramped conditions in houses, often one family per room, and there are no toilet facilities. As a result, renovating these houses requires much more work than one would expect. In addition, each family that has to move because of a renovation has to be paid considerable compensation and be offered a comparable place to live. Fig. 12: Proposal of the renovation project How much money Kunming’s Histori- Flower-Bird-Market. cal Street Block and Building Protection Office has at its disposal for renovations side houses, how to determine renova- road-widening project, and that the re- is not known. At this time, the sums tion grades and how to note owner and maining part of the cohesive district of needed are being discussed in city gov- tenant relationships of individual small-scale wooden houses east of the ernment; for example, what percentage houses, both in the classroom as well as historic city center should not be com- of renovation costs or extra costs to in the field. In addition, we elaborated pletely and unconditionally sacrificed to meet state requirements for historic the housing block analysis technique a large building development and shop- buildings should be paid by the state. (mapping historic courtyards with photo ping mall. Kunming’s Historical Building Although laws protecting the historic documentation of the individual court- Protection Office made public its plan to city center have been passed to effec- yards). Simultaneously, we developed a extend efforts to the entire rest of the city tively enforce preservation aims – sheet for recording the most important in 2003 and 2004, where many other against the will of private property own- and relevant information for each house smaller and larger areas and building ers – there is a lack of laws and models to serve as a cover sheet for every com- groups await discovery and rescue. for all of the issues. plete documentation. The methods and Unfortunately, the Kunming Historical techniques tested then as well as the in- Street Block and Building Protection Of- formation sheets are being used in fice is limited in its efforts to act on pub- 7 Acting Sustainably preservation work in Kunming today by lic interest in preservation, by lack of a During the last four years, I have been to city officials as well as by architects preservation or protection statute in the Kunming eleven times, often accompa- making inventories on their behalf. An- legislative framework, or like the Can- nied by Margrit Christensen and a rep- other result of the seminar was that ex- ton of Zurich, a planning and building resentative of Zurich’s Department of perts in Zurich and Kunming developed statute with articles for the protection of Historic Preservation. There have been a close collaborative relationship with natural and cultural environments. The highs and lows in our collaborative ef- similar lines of thought. budget of the office is also very limited, forts. The discussions with our partners as is the number of personnel, when one and officials in Kunming were always 6 Visions and reality realizes that two architects and an intensive and often led to misunder- The change of attitude of Kunming’s archivist have to handle a large city of standings due to the language barrier government from ideology of a “tabula two million residents. Planning for the and cultural differences. Often we left rasa” city development to one maintain- expensive, but tourism-friendly pilot Kunming disappointed, but were then ing the worth of remaining historic project “Renovation Flower Bird-Mar- surprised on our next visit by successful buildings and cultural buildings is in- ket” for the renovation of two long rows developments which arose from our ef- creasingly strong. Our long and contin- of wooden houses and shops in the mid- forts. Our advantage is that as a result uous collaboration always seems to dle of the historic city center, is finished of our intensive collaboration and pro- bear more fruit. Today, no one speaks of and waiting for the green light. fessional exchanges, we have a respon- demolishing houses in the “Wen Ming Moreover, private property owners – sible and reliable partner for preserva- Protection Area” anymore. All of the in the historic city center, around a tion work in Kunming, and since the es- houses are inventoried, measured and fourth of all houses belong to private tablishment of the Kunming Historical documented, and the first buildings people, while the land belongs to the Street Block and Building Protection Of- have been successfully renovated. city – are ready to renovate their prop- fice, an equivalent institution with the In addition, the planners decided last erties according to rigid preservation same powers and aims with which to fall that the historic buildings on the principles, but wish on the other hand, work. street to the north (Area Hua Shan Xi financial aid from the government. The This collaboration in historic preserva- Road) should not be sacrificed to a city and province, however, are strug- tion within the framework of the city DISP 151 78 2002

and the “Administration Rules for Outdoor Advertise- ments in Kunming”.

8. Application And Approval Procedure of Preservation and Renovation of Traditional Houses: • Application for preservation and renovation of buildings by the owners of traditional houses; • Advisory session (every Tuesday morning) at the ‘Kun- ming Historic Street Block and Building Protection Office’; • Filling out of application form for preservation and renovation of traditional houses, submission of relevant documents, preservation and renovation plans and explana- tions, establishment of project which will be send to the City Planning Administration (CPA) Panlong Branch; • Technical analysis on site, concept examination and approval carried out by the ‘Kunming Historic Street Block and Building Protection Office’; • Receipt of licence and notification for the start of the construction work; • Start of the construction work, accompanied by co-ordination, advice and supervision by historic building protection engineers; Old Town Protection: • Inhabitants of the historic Wenming district must • Completion and approval carried out by the Kunming Manual for Inhabitants of the observe the “Protection Plan of the Historic Wenming Historic Street Block and Building Protection Office’. Wenming District District”. While living in the traditional houses, they are responsible for the protection and renovation of these Due to its long history of over 2000 years, rich historic 1. Extent of the historic Wenming district of Kunming houses. heritage, charming gardens, springlike climate through- The Wenming district (the area bordered by Zhenyi Road • It is forbidden to establish buildings or constructions out the year, poetical landscape and variety of ethnic cul- in the east, Shifudong Street and Yunruixi Road in the around traditional houses or in courtyards of traditional tures, the city of Kunming was one of the first famous his- west, the Confusius Temple and Shengli Square in the houses without permission. Those already built without toric and cultural cities of China to be acknowledged by north, and Jingxing Street in the south) has been declared permission shall be demolished by the inhabitants as the Chinese State Council in 1982. Despite this, large-scale the “historic Wenming district of Kunming” by the muni- soon as possible. modernisation in the old town in the subsequent 10 years cipal government. • Without permission, it is forbidden to destroy or change meant that some traditional street blocks and buildings of the original structure and space of traditional houses, to Kunming disappeared forever and the structure and spe- 2. Responsible authority within the Kunming Municipal Peo- add new buildings or to demolish existing buildings. cific atmosphere of historic street blocks was massively ple's Government • It is forbidden to change original colors, decorations impaired. The responsible authority for planning administration and building materials of traditional houses without per- While enjoying modern culture, don't we miss the old within the municipal government – City Planning mission. All advertising installations in this district have town of Kunming as our memories of it fade away? Don't Administration (CPA) – has established a new depart- to be approved by the Kunming City Appearance Admin- we appreciate its long history like a ray of sunlight on a ment, the ‘Kunming Historic Street Block and Building istration Agency and the Protection Office. long and rich life? Protection Office’, which is responsible for the protection • Rules concerning fire protection and fire extinguishing A city needs memories. People living in the city also need of historic street blocks and buildings. are to be observed. to hold on to its history as a valuable heritage. On every • Any preservation and renovation measures of tradition- street, every house, every door and every window, histo- 3. The ‘Kunming Historic Street Block and Building Protec- al houses must be approved by the ‘Kunming Historic ry has left its traces in various details. Like heaven and tion Office’ has set up the Inhabitants Advising System for the Street Block and Building Protection Office’ of CPA and earth, sun and moon, these traces outlived their times and protection of historic buildings. CPA's Panlong branch. Preservation and renovation plans joined the never-ending river of life. Only cities with a (texts and figures) are to be submitted. Any preservation history have a soul and myth. People who appreciate his- 4. Provisional rules for living, usage and renovation within the and renovation work will be accompanied by technical tory can derive from it inspiration and creativity. Let's historic Wenming district of Kunming advice and supervision. take responsibility together in protecting historic street These provisional rules have been devised according to • The ‘Kunming Historic Street Block and Building Pro- blocks and buildings, and keeping our memory of our the “Protection Rules for the Historic Cultural City of tection Office’ will send engineers to advise on and co- city under the blue sky, on the rich earth, in our eyes and Kunming”, “Administrative Rules for Urban Planning in ordinate construction work in connection with historic our hearts. Kunming”, “Administrative Rules for Outdoor Adver- street blocks and buildings. tisements in Kunming” and “Protection Plan of the His- toric Wenming District” approved by the Kunming Plan- 5. Legal measures resulting from infringement of the rules. ning and Construction Committee. Breaches of the provisional rules mentioned above will be • The historic heritage, the integral appearance and the dealt with by the ‘Kunming Historic Street Block and cultural landscape of the historic Wenming district shall Building Protection Office’ and the Kunming Urban Plan- Depth and silence harbour heartfelt thoughts. be entirely protected. ning Control Corps according to the “Administrations The lens at the entrance to the alleyway discovers • Inhabitants of the historic Wenming district shall follow Rules for the Urban Planning of Kunming”, the “Protec- long lasting colors. the instructions of the urban planning administration the tion Rules for the historic cultural city Kunming”, the The short and clear music of the stone paving city appearance administration and supervision. “Administration Rules for Kunming City Appearance” is knocking on the thick door.

Fig. 13: Manual for the inhabitants of the Wenming District.

partnership between Zurich and Kun- Notes SI+A Schweizer Ingenieur und Architekt No. ming is planned to last two more years. 11 (1998): Stadtentwicklung in China (vari- [1] http://www.unescobkk.org/culture/her- By this time, Kunming should have its ous authors). itageawards/jinlan.htm own well-paid employees and an expe- U.SD. (2001): Der «Untastbare» und Chinas rienced department functioning in this Kulturerbe, in: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 30.4.2001. area that can perceive and act on issues References of historic protection and preservation WENLONG C. (Ed.) (1999): World Cultural ALEXANDER A., DE AZEVEDO P. (1999): and Natural Heritage. The Lijiang old city. Bei- in the entire city. However, whether the The old city of Lhasa, Vol. I, Report from a jing. buildings in the protected historic cen- Conservation Project. Berlin, Kathmandu. ter, which are in very poor condition, CAPOL J. (1999): Die Denkmalpflege hilft can be saved is now dependent on the Dr. Werner Stutz Kunming, in: Tages-Anzeiger, 2.8.1999. Denkmalpflege und Archäologie political willpower of Kunming officials CASTRO D. (2002): Immobilienstandorte: Amt für Städtebau der Stadt Zürich and decision-makers. Stadtplanung in China, in: Süddeutsche Lindenhofstrasse 19 Zeitung, 26.4.2002. CH-8021 Zürich SI+A Schweizer Ingenieur und Architekt No. Switzerland 48 (1998): Kunming, China (various authors). [email protected] DISP 151 79 2002 Jacques P. Feiner, Shiwen Mi, Willy A. Schmid

Sustainable Rural Development Based on Cultural Heritage The Case of the Shaxi Valley Rehabilitation Project

In China today, 70% of the population still live in rural and mountainous areas where poverty and economic underdevelopment are widespread. Shaxi Valley, which is located at the foothills of the Hi- malaya in Yunnan province and remains one of the last strongholds of the Bai minority, is not only an example of an economically impoverished area in Central China but boasts the historic market square of Shaxi, which was selected on the list of the 100 most endangered World Heritage Sites by the World Monu- ment Fonds (WMF) in 2001. The Shaxi Fig. 1: Natural assets of Shaxi Valley (photo: Rehabilitation and Development Project Jacques Feiner). focuses on the sustainable development of a rural commune by generating a widespread interest in urban China ob- But although the massive transforma- framework for ecological, economic, and scures the fact that today 70% of tion of the Chinese countryside and ru- China’s population still live in rural and ral systems has been judged by different social issues which balance development mountainous areas. scholars (Hare & West, 1999; Xu & Tan, and conservation in the long run. Tourism Since 1978, China has been moving 2001; Seeborg et al., 2000) and poli- will not be the sole vehicle for the viabil- away from Mao’s balanced regional de- cymakers who pay attention to the rural ity of the Shaxi Valley communities but velopment policies to pragmatic uneven enterprise sector, rural China still takes only one of four tiers – alongside a well- regional development, which regards a back seat. disparities as “an inevitable stage in The “Shaxi Rehabilitation Project,“ lo- maintained structural environment, im- the development process” (Long & Ng, cated in a remote valley at the foothills proved infrastructure, and economic di- 2001, 215). During the 1990s, China of the Himalaya, is situated exactly in versification. The comprehensive regional was characterized by ongoing reform such a rural retreat area. Due to its po- planning includes a zoning and trans- and economic restructuring and strong sition in an interior region and its high economic growth of the main metropoli- altitude, the valley remained poor and portation plan, a plan for sustainable ba- tan centers, especially in the coastal re- did not develop much in the last 50 sic infrastructure, a tourism development gions. Simultaneously, an increased lag- years. In addition, it did not prepare it- plan, a protection and development plan ging behind of the interior regions, self at all for second industry develop- for historic sites, and an investment plan. i.e. the central and western provinces, ment. Poverty is thus widespread. On has been reported (Hare & West, 1999; the other hand, slow or even non-exis- Xu & Tan, 2001; Xu & Zou, 2000; see tant economic growth resulted in coun- also Lee & Lee, [2002]) in this issue of tryside that is still very much in shape. 1 Introduction DISP). The “lagging behind” of China’s Much of its cultural heritage survived, In contrast to the concept of the Chinese interior regions is even more pro- whereas in other locations it disap- countryside, which was at the core of nounced in their rural and mountainous peared a long time ago (Rozelle et al., the Great Cultural Revolution, the Chi- areas than their urban cores. When it 1997). Not without reason, Sideng nese authorities currently place much comes to regions that are primarily pop- Market, the historic Market Place of emphasis on the development and tran- ulated by ethnic minorities who mostly Shaxi Valley, originally a one way sta- sition of urban areas and metropolitan live in badly accessible areas, the gap tion on the Tea and Horse Caravan Trail regions in China. Besides the interest of has grown even larger. As rising re- between Yunnan and Tibet, has been post-reform China in urban areas, there gional income inequality poses the identified as the last surviving cara- exists a growing body of scholarly liter- threat of slowing economic growth, in- vanserai-like stopover on this branch of ature on the processes and impacts of creased social conflict (Hare & West, the southern Silk Road. As such, Sideng rapid urbanization and the develop- 1999, 476), the destabilization of rural Market was classified worthy of preser- ment of global cities in China (Chan, settlements, and floating urban centers vation by the World Monument Fund, 1996; Wu, 2000; Yulon & Hamnett, with rural to urban migration, sustain- which selected it for its list of the 100 2002; Olds, 1997; Chang, 1998; able economic transformation of rural most endangered World Monument Han &Yan, 1999; Lin, 1999). This areas is a paramount task. Sites. DISP 151 80 2002

The Shaxi Rehabilitation Project is an alternative planning and development project which aims at illustrating how rural communes and their society and economy can be developed in a sustainable way by taking advantage of specific local potential and assets. The challenge of the Shaxi Rehabilitation project is thus to develop tourism and other industries in the valley, while preserving and rehabilitating its cultural heritage, its ecological qualities, and its social structure.

2 Shaxi’s Great History, Present- Fig. 2: Shaxi Market: A World Monuments day Problems, and Future Fund Site. Challenges Shaxi Valley is located between the cities of Dali in the South and Lijang in the North, each at approximately two to

Fig. 3: Structure plan (ground floor) of the buildings on Shaxi Market (Survey: Fach- hochschule beider Basel FHBB/Prof. Patrick Gmür). DISP 151 81 2002

three hours travel time. It is inhabited Grottoes in Shibao Mountain in the (which prevent people from moving mainly by the Bai, a Sino-Tibetan ethnic northwestern part of the Shaxi commune away from the valley), the population of group, which once dominated large testify to the importance of Shaxi in Shaxi Valley is forecast to increase parts of Yunnan Province. Jianchuan these extended empires; in the back- greatly: at the end of 2020 around county remains the last stronghold of the ground architectural elements which are 34,000 inhabitants are expected. This Bai minority, with more than 90% of still common in the Bai traditional build- anticipated 70% increase in population population share. Archeological finding style can be seen. Stone statues of will strongly increase the land-use for ings suggest that Shaxi has been contin- buddhas, kings, monks, and other dig- settlements; this development threatens uously inhabited since prehistoric times. nitaries, as well as animistic symbols, prime quality arable land in the valley Trade relations between this region show traces of merging religious and plain. The average yearly income lies at around Shaxi and central China can cultural elements (850 to 1179 A.D.), approximately US$120. be traced as far back as the Shang Dy- from Buddhist, Chinese, South Asian, This is very low, even when compared nasty (1600 to 1012 B.C.). Seashells and Tibetan to Persian origins. The im- with Chinese conditions. One of the found among remnants hint at an early portance of the trade route may also ex- main economic constraints to the valley relation with near coastal regions in plain the comparatively high standing of has been its location as a dead-end and southeast Asia. Researchers postulate the local vernacular architecture and the the lack of mining resources. Agriculture that the South Silk Road, which crosses high quality of the decoration and con- is the primary source of income for 70% Yunnan in a northeast-southwestward di- struction of many houses in the Shaxi of the economically active residents. But rection and passes by Jianchuan and Valley. as Shaxi is located at about 2,300 me- Dali, may have connected China and With the change of political systems ters above sea level – the highest alti- India since around 100 B.C. At that and the introduction of modern trans- tude where wet rice can still be culti- time an intensive exchange between the portation in the 1950s, trade on the Tea vated – only one harvest is possible. It is Chinese and Indian cultures had started and Horse Caravan Trail came to a def- estimated that an additional 15% of the to influence the regions along this trad- inite end. Shaxi, completely dependant economically active population work in ing road and thus also the region on this trade route, stagnated, and only the secondary industries. Construction around Shaxi. limited development has taken place in work accounts for two-thirds of the sec- With the passing of time, the tradi- the valley since then. Centered in an iso- ondary industrial sector. Stone and tional trade routes along the north-south lated valley and surrounded by fierce wood carving and architectural building flowing Mekong River and Red River mountains, Shaxi Valley has preserved craftsmanship in the commune are changed functions. Beginning around the once typical combination of cultural, strong traditional businesses, as they the sixth century, trade in tea and horses religious, commercial and architectural are in other parts of Jianchuan county. started between Yunnan and Tibet. This components of the region to this day. Skilled carpenters and wood and stone trade route extended about 3,500 km, What remains is the structural heritage carvers are contracted for construction from the tropical south of Yunnan, in the valley and the local indigenous and renovation projects throughout the Xishuangbanna, where tea was culti- culture. There are about 50 temples in province, including Kunming, the capi- vated, to Lhasa in Tibet, where horses the valley dedicated to a series of differ- tal of Yunnan, as well as in other parts were bred. Horse caravans were the ent gods. The most important is the of the country. The third sector, which in- typical means of transportation. Shaxi above mentioned Shizhong Grotto Tem- cludes services and public administra- was one of the important stopovers on ple on Shibaoshan Mountain. The mar- tion, accounts for about another 15% of this trade route, the second before the ket area of Sideng Village, probably the the total economically active popula- ascent to the Tibetan High Plateau. The last existing stopover on the historic Tea tion. Secondary and tertiary industries Tea and Horse Caravan Trail between and Horse Trade Route, serves as a rare currently satisfy only the needs of the Yunnan and Tibet led essentially to a example of historical commercial archi- resident agricultural population. Despite kind of civilian exchange between all tecture. It is confined by defensive gates the natural beauty and the impressive ethnic groups involved, including Bais, and furnished with a theater stage and structural heritage, tourism remains only Chinese, Tibetans, Indians, Yis, Thais many wooden shops. A temple district marginally developed and is limited to and Burmese, among others. This diver- and a host of sanctuaries are located in visits to Shibaoshan Mountain. sity of exchange stands in contrast to the the immediate proximity of the historic Population growth and lack income Silk Road, which came under the strict market. A series of impressive tradi- drives residents more and more to over- military control of the dominating pow- tional residential houses are also found use the natural environment. The risk of ers. The apogee of cultural exchange on in the proximity of this market place. To- further destruction of natural potential is this route occurred during the Nanzhao day, the Shaxi commune covers an area increasing (i.e. deforestation, despite le- (8th to 10th century A.D.) and Dali of 288 km, has eight villages and ap- gal measures), and with it the risk of nat- (10th to 13th century A.D.) periods. The proximately 20,000 inhabitants. But ural disasters such as landslides, floods impressive reliefs in portraying the two due to natural population growth and and droughts. Thus, the question at royal courts in the Shizhong Temple current restrictive migration policies hand is how long the current natural DISP 151 82 2002

beauty of the valley, the preservation the concept of sustainable development, nomic impacts of ecotourism, Lindberg state of its settlements and the unique the World Tourism Organization (WTO) (2001, 363) summarizes that “several cultural identity of its inhabitants can defined the main elements of “sustain- studies have assessed the local employ- prevail under present conditions. In ad- able tourism” in 1995 as follows: ment benefits of ecotourism; not surpris- dition, the Bai culture, with its own lan- • Improvement of the quality of life of ingly, the level of benefits varies widely guage, its distinct festivals, dances and the host community. as a result of differences in the quality of traditions, is nowadays in danger of • Maintenance of the quality of the en- attraction, access, and other factors. In fading out in favor of the mainstream vironment. some cases, the number of jobs created Han-Chinese culture. The same applies • High quality of experience for the vi- will be low, but [especially] in rural to the Bai building heritage, which is of- sitor (WTO, 1995). economies even a few jobs can make a ten in desperate shape. However, the Though Miller (2001) emphasizes that big difference.” provincial Ministry of Culture has recog- the definition of sustainable tourism is Despite widespread efforts towards nized the surrounding cultural land- still not satisfying in many areas, it is more sustainability of tourism, the im- scape as deeply influenced by the Bai commonly agreed that the focus of sus- pact of tourism on a region’s environ- ethnic minority and intends to suggest it tainable (tourism) development has to mental diversity and fragility is still very to the UNESCO World Heritage List as be on long term viability as well as the far-reaching, and as Ahn et al. (2002, a landscape especially in need of pro- issues of equity, justice, empowerment 2) point out, “the enthusiasm for linking tection. and participation (Hall, 1998; Ahn et sustainable development with tourism al., 2002; Miller, 2001). A review of may often be tempered by reality.” In definitions of sustainable tourism is scholarly literature, a wide range of po- 3 Cultural Heritage Preservation given in Garrod & Fyall (1998, 201). tential land-use, conservation, social, and Rural Tourism as a Means of A sub-category of sustainable tourism and economic priority conflicts are re- Sustainable Development? is ecotourism, which is currently grow- ported, in addition to environmental Currently, 730 properties (563 cultural, ing in popularity and is believed to be degradation (Hall, 1998; Ryan, 2002; 144 natural and 23 mixed properties in the fastest growing tourism segment Russo, 2002). Buckley (2001) points out 125 states) are included on the World (Campbell, 1999). Ecotourism includes that even though ecotourism has lower Heritage List, which was established un- issues of ecotourist responsibility, envi- per capita impacts on the environment der the terms of The Convention Con- ronmentally friendly destination man- than traditional forms of tourism, these cerning the Protection of the World Cul- agement, profit linkage to conservation impacts tend to be concentrated in tural and Natural Heritage adopted in efforts, and the sustainable development areas of highest conservation and pro- November 1972 at the 17th General of local human populations (Campbell, tection value. According to Buckley Conference of UNESCO. As these sites 1999). A review of ecotourism defini- (2001), environmental impacts of eco- have global value due to their specific tions is given in Blamey (2001). A very tourism can be reduced by management historical, scientific, or aesthetic quali- strict view of ecotourism is defined by practices of ecotour operators and land- ties, many of them attract tourists from Ziffer (cit. in Hjalager, 1997, 39): “The holders/land management agencies, all over the world. This is in line with the eco-tourist practices a non-consumptive and the environmental education of eco- philosophy underlying the convention use of wild-life and natural resources tour clients. that designated sites are to be open to and contributes to the visited area Considering the more general topic of visitors. However, tourism initiated by through labour and financial means sustainable tourism, Collins (1999) ar- World Heritage Sites generates rev- aimed at directly benefiting the conser- gues that market instruments may not enues and draws global attention to vation of the site and the economic well- help correct spillover effects caused by these sites and their cultural assets, but being of the residents. The visit should the abuse of tourist-carrying capacities at the same time it can pose a severe strengthen the ecotourist’s appreciation before significant environmental degra- threat to the environment and to culture, of conservation issues in general, and dation occurs. Visitation fees, route thus conflicting with the goal of protec- also the specific needs of the locals. guidance and the designation of tourist tion and conservation of cultural her- Ecotourism also implies a managed ap- zones are widely used but have prov- itage (Drost, 1996). The close links be- proach by the host country or region, en ineffective (Collins, 1999). Campbell tween cultural heritage and tourism in- which commits itself to establishing and (1999) even suggests that sustain- evitably lead to a discussion of sustain- maintaining the sites with the participa- able tourism development cannot be able development, which means “devel- tion of local residents.” According to the achieved in the absence of formalized opment that meets the needs” of the literature review by Campbell (1999), planning or intervention. Ahn et al. present without compromising the abil- community development, community (2002) point out that sustainability is an ity of future generations to meet their participation, a community approach to attractive but problematic concept con- own needs (WCED, 1987), while tak- decision-making, and small business de- tradicted by the absence of a mandate ing into consideration ecological, eco- velopment are central principles of the for the sustainability of some quality of nomic as well as social issues. Based on ecotourism concept. Concerning eco- life among regional communities. In DISP 151 83 2002

their study on Calhoun County, tural heritage and an untouched natural ces change, the expected population Texas/USA, Ahn et al. (2002) identified environment are demonstrated by exam- growth could also represent local poten- the Limits of the Acceptable Chance ples from Europe, the Americas, and tial. In this sense, carefully guided settle- (LAC) planning framework suggested by Asia (Hall, 1998; Sharpley, 2002; ment growth and conscious preserva- McCool (1994, 1995) as a potential Campbell, 1999; Tosun, 2001). tion and development of historic sites technical planning process tool to help and settlement cores could only add to define operational guidelines for sus- the valley’s attractiveness. tainable tourism development. Accord- 4 The Shaxi Rehabilitation Project There are obvious potential synergies ing to Collins (1999), the goal of between population, tourism, and pri- achieving more sustainable tourism de- 4.1 Shaxi’s Main Assets for Future mary and secondary industry develop- velopment has to be met by strategic Development ment, which need to be carefully coordination, planning, and enforce- Besides the already frequented Shibao- tapped: ment on a spatially extensive basis, shan Mountain, there are many other • The population increase may be con- whether community or government led. historical sites and natural spots, which verted into an opportunity. Special interest in tourism develop- indeed would be worth visiting. How- • The high altitude location, which is ment has been paid to rural tourism. ever, most of them are still unknown to unfavorable for agrarian production, Rural tourism is seen as a significant the public and would need, due to their may change into an asset for tourism de- source of income for peripheral areas desperate state of conservation, urgent velopment. (Hummelbrunner & Miglbauer, 1994), care and restoration. • The protection of cultural and natural as a means of re-populating rural areas, The natural landscape of Shaxi Valley heritage may become a development maintaining and improving public serv- is well-preserved up to now. The land- prospect. ices, and as a solution for the protection scape is idyllic, the villages’ structures • Tourism may become the main motor of both the natural and structural are still completely built in the distinctive of social and economic development. environment (Sharpley, 2002, 234f.). Bai style. The rice terraces and the man- • Other social and economic opportu- Therefore, it is “considered an effective made natural environment are also fully nities may add to this. catalyst of rural socio-economic devel- intact, and forest grow on the mountain One more main development asset is opment and regeneration.” (Sharpley, slopes. The remote location surrounded the strong commitment from the local 2002, 233). Hall (1998) suggests that by mountainous forests at high altitude side and the strong desire to develop in China, well integrated high quality ru- is an ideal location for the production of the valley in a positive way. When the ral tourism is able to provide a substan- organic agricultural products. Rare cash historic market square of Shaxi was se- tial complement and counterbalance to crops (mushrooms and ginseng, among lected for the list of the 100 most en- coastal mass tourism and can generate others) also grow in abundance, but are dangered World Heritage Sites by the considerable employment in sectors exported as raw materials and do not World Monument Fonds (WMF), the lo- such as accommodation, food, local generate additional income. Cash crops cal government mobilized around 200 crafts, manufacturing, construction, as and organic food production already journalists and 11 TV stations to attend well as improve the quality of local have the potential to improve the local the press conference. It has also already housing. Besides bolstering the local economic environment. Furthermore, the issued construction regulations to pro- economy, rural tourism is regarded as a development and export of existing sec- tect the valley. more sustainable tourism approach than ond industry skills, e.g., wood and By far the main economic potential for conventional tourism (Sharpley, 2002) building craftsmanship, and building the future lies in tourism. While Sideng and a vehicle for sustainable develop- conservation, presents a further pro- Village did not have any tourists before ment (Hall, 1998). Therefore, in many spect for development. In general, the the listing of Shaxi Market Square by countries, economic challenges and so- landscape, nature and man-made envi- WMF in November 2001, this has al- cial destabilization caused by the de- ronment is enticing for visitors, but so far ready changed. Around 10,000 tourists cline of traditional agrarian industries little or no tourism infrastructure exists. visited it so far during 2001. In the last and falling employment and income lev- The Bai culture is still alive – more decade, two main tourism hubs have de- els in rural and mountainous areas are than 90% of the population speak the veloped with about three hours reach addressed by rural tourism development local Bai language – and can be expe- from Shaxi: the cities of Dali and Lijang. programs. As Hall (1998, 428) notes rienced by visitors as can the culture Dali generates about 5.5 million tourists concerning rural tourism, “attractive and traditions of the other minorities each year, and Lijang around 3.5 mil- landscapes or particular elements of the such as the Yi. Festivals, music and lion (2001). These hubs are increas- natural environment can complement dance events are frequent and usually ingly overcrowded and tourism experts and provide the context for cultural at- colorful. Besides this, the local popula- are seeking alternative locations. On tractions.” Prospects for regional devel- tion is very adaptable and has many the other hand, if only 1 to 5% of these opment in peripheral areas through ex- skills, and they just lack respective mar- tourists could be convinced to visit ploitation of the assets offered by cul- kets to flourish in. Thus, if circumstan- Shaxi, this would have a considerable DISP 151 84 2002

impact on the local economy. For this, areas are on the verge of being de- however, the infrastructure, which is cur- stroyed. Setting an example of how rently lacking, needs to be prepared. rural sustainable development can take The main challenges and potentials place in such a mountainous region is enumerated show clearly that in the cur- therefore one of the main objectives. rent situation much can be lost or won in Shaxi Valley. In the medium term, if not Fig. 4: Traditional Bai Theater Stage at Si- 4.3 A Sustainable Vision for Shaxi deng Market (photo: Jacques Feiner). carefully planned and guided, the Valley nearby exponentially increasing tourism How the future of Shaxi Valley could in the region could even become a sary if the goal is to reach a sustainable look is described in the following devel- threat to the natural and architectural and enduring preservation and develop- opment vision. heritage of the valley, especially if Shaxi ment in Shaxi Valley. Otherwise, the re- On entering and looking over Shaxi were to deal with its dead-end geo- stored buildings would fall into decay Valley, the visitor is stunned by the visual graphic location by constructing a by- again some years after the end of the appearance of the valley as a whole. It pass road. Therefore, effective protec- program and severe degradation of the appears as an idyllic island in a sea of tion measures should be put in place, natural assets would occur. Therefore, dark-green, forest-covered mountains. and future settlement growth needs to be the four main objectives of the Shaxi Re- The rice-field terraces of the valley- guided by comprehensive regional habilitation and Development Project plains stand out, shiny-green and or- planning. Otherwise, Shaxi risks loos- are as follows: ganically cultivated, while compactly ing its precious natural and cultural as- • Enable a sustainable rehabilitation built villages are regularly distributed sets in the medium term. and development of the Shaxi Valley. over the whole plain. The tile-covered This shall be done by tapping the poten- roofs of the traditional courtyard houses 4.2 Planning Objectives of the Shaxi tials of the valley (environmental and glitter in the morning sun. On arrival in Rehabilitation Project cultural preservation, and the develop- central Sideng Village, we see a market As indicated by academic literature as ment of tourism and other economic place for weekly markets which lies be- well as preceding surveys by the au- growth prospects.) tween the well-organized village center thors in Shaxi, an isolated restoration • Enable the development of Sideng and the well-preserved historic village. and tourism project for the Sideng Mar- Village as the central location of the People dressed in styles according to ket in the Shaxi Valley will not be suffi- Shaxi commune (it being the core part their ethnic group stand around, talk cient to preserve the heritage site. More- of future settlement of the valley), and and exchange goods. This traditional over, an integrated and comprehensive the preservation of the historic part of image, however, hides modern aspects. planning project, focused on the preser- Sideng, in addition to the other histori- The historic village, the old market vation of the site and the improvement cal assets of Shaxi Valley. square, and temple district are well re- of the economic and ecological situa- • Ensure the restoration and re-inte- stored, but adapted in function to con- tion in the valley appear to be neces- gration of the historic marketplace of temporary needs. They add to the local Sideng Village. identity, of which the residents are Set a model for sustainable rural de- proud. Sideng Village has become the Fig. 5: Restoration proposal of market faca- • velopment in the culturally rich area of focal point of the valley. Here, the non- des. FHBB (Fachhochschule beider Basel) collabo- the Himalayan foothills. This model is ur- agricultural population, the services and reted on the architectural survey. gently needed, as many other similar secondary industries are concentrated DISP 151 85 2002

on the natural hill of Sideng, where the ric Sideng Village. It includes both li- placement of collapsed buildings inside agricultural land is only of secondary quid and solid waste. Its main advanta- their old fabric. quality. The sanitation system is built so ges are that a (very expensive) se- Meanwhile, the historic market place, as to protect bodies of water, and its werage system will not be required and with its theater stage, the Sideng Temple output can be used as fertilizer for local that human and animal waste will be District, which dates back to the Ming organic food production. Riverside ar- used for soil fertilization, increasing at Dynasty (1415 AD), and the other his- eas and biotopes close to the town are the same time the capacities of organic torically most important houses in the vil- protected and made accessible, entic- food production. Sideng Village will be lage have been carefully surveyed. Fu- ing visitors to undertake short and ro- the pilot project for other villages in the ture functions for reuse of the partially mantic evening trips. A network of walk- Shaxi Valley. In addition solid waste, abandoned buildings around the market ways covers the valley and mountains water supply, drainage and grey water square have been defined. Detailed and is used by both inhabitants and are addressed. restoration and rehabilitation plans are tourists. They can travel safely by bike, • A tourism development plan. Tourist being drawn up. Adaptations outside by horse, or on foot by separate path- itineraries, sites of interest to tourists the historic village have been carried ways. The original tea and horse cara- and potential locations for hotels and out in a manner that makes the historic van trails are restored and can be expe- other related infrastructure are outlined. market square once again an attractive rienced again in their original charac- • A protection and development plan place to host a part of the local weekly ter. Several hotels are located around for Shaxi’s historic sites. This plan caters market and cultural or tourism-related historical Sideng Village and at distinct for preservation, adequate restoration functions have been assigned to some of locations in the Shaxi Valley. They incor- and re-linking of the historical sites in the abandoned buildings. porate and reinterpret the distinct Bai the valley. Every effort is being made to ensure building style and offer overnight stays • Creating sustainable investment op- that the historic Shaxi Market Square with a distinctive note to the visitors. A portunities. In line with the development again becomes an attractive meeting series of restaurants offer the visitor a of the comprehensive development place for local residents as well as for taste of local food. The number of visi- plan, a phased and adapted investment visitors from abroad. tors is in balance with the local popula- plan for the commune will be worked tion and local incomes are improved out. Its goal is to allow the community to leading to a decent lifestyle. In addition, apply for infrastructure funding to the nature is in balance with the economic provincial and national authorities and 5 Conclusion development, and natural potentials are to offer a base for private investments. Although the Shaxi Rehabilitation Pro- used and safeguarded simultaneously. With this funding and other investments, ject adapts the principle ideas of sus- Briefly stated, the village is both attrac- which are already partially promised, tainable tourism development, rural tive to visit and to dwell in. the development vision for Shaxi Valley tourism, and ecotourism, its overall phi- will be realized. losophy reaches far beyond the limits of 4.4 Comprehensive Planning as a tourism development. The comprehen- Means for Sustainable (Tourism) 4.5 Rehabilitation and Development of sive planning and development ap- Development Historic Sideng Village as the Core Part proach used in the Shaxi Rehabilitation To ensure a healthy environment and a of Sustainable Tourist Development in Project focuses on the sustainable devel- sound economic base, a sustainability- Shaxi Valley opment of a rural community by gener- oriented comprehensive development The core of the future population and ating a framework for ecological, eco- plan for Shaxi Commune will be estab- economic development of Shaxi Valley nomic, and social issues which balance lished. It includes: is Sideng. Meanwhile, the historic part development and conservation in the • A comprehensive zoning and trans- of Sideng Village and its immediate sur- long run. Tourism will not be the sole ve- portation plan. A novelty for China, this roundings are clearly the core areas for hicle for the viability of the Shaxi Valley plan addresses the whole area of the future tourism development. To assure communities but only one of four tiers commune and outlines settlement core that this development will be sustainable alongside “a well-maintained structural and development zones, nature priority and not threaten the historic fabric and environment, improved infrastructure, and protection zones, and other areas sensitive wetland along the river in front and a diversified economy.” The overall of common interest. of the village, detailed preservation findings of the Shaxi Rehabilitation Pro- • A plan for the implementation of sus- plans and regulations, as well as urban ject with regard to the principle of sustainable basic infrastructure. Currently, and landscape design plans have been tainable development are that sustain- specialists from the Swiss Federal Insti- worked out. These provide for protec- able tourism development in remote ru- tute for Environmental Science and Tech- tion and development areas and a ral areas cannot be achieved without fo- nology (EAWAG), a Swiss Federal Re- framework for development of new cusing on sustainable community devel- search Institute, are at work to establish tourism-related structures close to the his- opment and establishing comprehensive a sustainable sanitation system for histo- toric village as well as a scheme for re- planning frameworks and guidelines. DISP 151 86 2002

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