Green Development Model of China’s Small and Medium-sized Cities

As a new pattern of development today, green development promotes harmony between human beings and nature, and green economy, a new economic model and the economic choice geared towards ecological progress, places high value on protecting the climate and environment on the one hand, and improving economic efficiency and growth on the other. As Hu Angang points out, green development emphasizes the marriage of economic growth and environmental protection, thus resulting in a more socially beneficial and sustainable approach to development that truly has the needs of the people at the core.

Green urban development does not only mean actions to protect ecological environment, but also efforts to base these actions on optimal principles aimed at enhancing urban functions, to instill the idea that productivity is inseparable from ecological environment and in this sense protecting and improving ecological environment is a way to protect and improve productivity, to incorporate ecological progress into every aspect of and the whole process of economic, political, cultural and social developments, and to build new-type cities that are ecologically harmonious, people-oriented, multi-functional and with their own unique characteristics.

For small and medium-sized cities, achieving green urban development and ecological progress requires integrated planning with a focus on making breakthroughs in areas such as continuous industrial upgrade, developing green transportation, improving community construction and promoting a new type of urbanization.

Ecological progress in small and medium-sized cities will not be achieved in one stroke. The current green development strategy should incorporate several tactics including: major breakthroughs in key areas, highlighted characteristics, institutional development, technological innovation and a competitive environment for the fastest and best accomplishment.

Land consolidation has been extensively practiced worldwide with a long history. In Germany, land consolidation can go as far back as 1953 when the former Federal Republic of Germany issued its first Land Consolidation Act, which was revised and enriched twice in 1976 and in 1982 respectively. It is mainly focused on the consolidation and rearrangement of land patches, transformation of rural areas, development of construction land and land consolidation for large construction projects, consolidation of forestland and farmland for special crops, updating land related documentations, etc. Other countries like France, the Netherlands, Italy, Portugal, Canada, Australia, Japan and South Korea also carried out similar land consolidating activities, though under different names, e.g. Land Consolidation, Land Readjustment, Land Re-plotting, Land Pooling, etc.

With the fast advancement of urbanization and industrialization in China, the “hard (inherent) constraint” of land resource has become increasingly prominent. Against this backdrop, it is inevitably necessary for small and medium-sized cities to innovate their urban development theories and reform the land utilization systems in order to improve the land utilization efficiency.

Global climate change has become a topic that draws close attention in the international community, and adopting the path of low-carbon economic development by seeking a balance point between development and emission reduction is the inevitable choice. In essence, low-carbon development requires human activities to feature low input, low pollution, low emission and high output, so as to integrate economic, environmental and social benefits and the system of human society, system of science and technology, and system of natural ecology.

Cities are in ever fiercer competition for development today. The sustainability of a city’s economic development decides its developing potential, and such sustainability is affected and restrained by resources and ecology. As resource environment becomes ever harsher, only cities that develop in the low-carbon and green direction are sure to become green with lasting developing potential and competitiveness. They should stick to green development by making green strategic plans, building green infrastructure, and through other measures, but the premise is that all social members in the city have a certain level of green awareness, green knowledge, green skills and green quality, which mainly depend on education. Agenda 21 expressly stated that “education is critical for promoting sustainable development and improving the capacity of the people to address environment and development issues”, which indicates that green education on sustainable development can give a strong impetus to green city development, and this has received growing attention from more countries and cities. When the 12th International Congress of Educating Cities was held in the theme of “Green Environment, Creative Education” in Changwon, Republic of Korea in April 2012, city government employees and education scholars from 33 countries and regions discussed how to develop and improve the green environment in cities through creative education. At the international conference on environmental education held in Australia in 1999, some participants proposed to create a community of urban environmental education because environmental education could promote sustainable city development. The call for promoting green city development with green and sustainable education is getting louder.

In face of realistic problems such as climate change, environmental pollution and energy crisis, the whole world is reflecting on the traditional development model, lifestyle and consumption pattern and exploring new development model and lifestyle, so as to mitigate damage to nature, enhance nature’s bearing capacity, slow down exploitation of natural resources, and search for paths for man-nature harmony and economic and social sustainability. Many regions have gathered successful experience in their exploration for green development.

In 2013, Kunshan’s economic and social development displayed a sound status of progress and better quality amid stability. Income of urban and rural residents maintained a two-digit growth for ten consecutive years, local GDP reached RMB292.01 billion, a 9.7% growth from the previous year, and per capita GDP was USD28,700 and energy consumption per RMB10,000 GDP was 0.4 metric ton of standard coal, reaching the level of moderately developed countries and regions. Kunshan ranked 8th of all cities in the country regarding total import/export volume, and it was the only county-level city nationwide with public fiscal revenues exceeding RMB20 billion.

June 19, 2012 is a memorable day in the history of Suining. On that day, the name Suining was mentioned at the Global Forum on Human Settlements (GFHS) of Rio+20 held in Brazil’s Rio De Janeiro for winning the honor of “Global Green City”. This international honor reflected international organizations’ recognition of Suining’s persistence in green development concept and building a green and ecological city, and was the outcome of the leadership and decision of Suining CPC Committee and municipal government and the joint efforts of all residents of the city.

At the end of 2013, Jiangsu provincial government conferred Yangzhou the “Ecological Achievement Award for Green Jiangsu 2003–2012”. As a typical water city on the eastern plain of China, Yangzhou created a green city of forests and waters in itself by following natural laws, and benefited its people with ecological development. At the moment, Yangzhou has 1.53 million mu of forests across the city, forest and wetland coverage ratio reaches 51.5%, green coverage ratio in completed areas of city proper is 43.34%, and per capita park greening is 19 m².

Located in the southeast of Anhui, Ningguo is one of the key mountainous counties and cities in the province. Covering 2,487 km² with a total population of 380,000 people, Ningguo is known for being a land of “80% mountain, 10% water, 5% farmland and 5% road and park”. Since its location doesn’t give it any advantage, the city has accurately positioned itself in recent years and explored a path of innovative, comprehensive and green development suiting its actual conditions. It was titled “top 100 small and medium-sized cities in China” for five years in a row and “top 10 resource-saving and environmentally friendly small and medium-sized cities in China” for three years in a row, and it is a category-one city of scientific development in Anhui in terms of overall economic strength.

Located in the center of Western Sichuan Plain and the northwestern suburb of Chengdu, Pixian County is one of the key gravity irrigation areas of Dujiangyan, an important passageway from Chengdu to famous scenic areas including Dujiangyan, Mount Qingcheng, Huanglong and Jiuzhaigou, and a crucial protected area of drinking water source for Chengdu. Covering 438 km², the county has 16 towns (sub-district offices) and 218 villages (communities), and had 966,900 households of permanent population and 588,500 registered residents at the end of 2013. With its overall economic strength ranking among the top 10 counties in the province for 19 years in a row, Pixian County has won a series of honors, including China’s top 100 counties for basic economic competitiveness, China’s top 100 cities with greatest investment potential, national model county, China’s top 100 counties for scientific development, national ecological county, and national demonstration county for recreational agriculture and countryside tourism.

Zhenjiang is a famous historical and cultural city with more than 3,000 years of history. Thanks to its unique locational advantage at the confluence of rivers and favorable ecological environment with mountains and forests, Zhenjiang was an important commercial port and traffic hub in the lower reaches of Yangtze River in history, a city where southern and northern cultures met and merged and that led the development of prosperous Jiangnan (south of Yangtze River). After reform and opening up, it experienced rapid economic and social development and became much stronger economically, but rapid development came with unprecedented pressure on resource and environment and challenges to sustainable development. Zhenjiang is the smallest and least populous city in Jiangsu Province with relatively insufficient resources.

Located on the southeast coast of Fujian, Nan’an abuts Quanzhou’s downtown area in the east, adjoins Xiamen’s special economic zone in the west and looks across to the island of Taiwan. It is an ancient prefecture with a history of more than 1,750 years, the starting point of “Maritime Silk Road” and an emerging modern city in the Economic Zone on the West Side of the Straits. Covering a land area of 2,036 km², the city has 23 townships and towns, three blocks and one development zone, and a registered population of 1.54 million people.

Located in the hinterland of Liaodong Peninsular, Haicheng covers 2732 km² with “50% mountains, 10% water and 40% farmland”, has a permanent population of 1.3 million people, and has five development zones—Haicheng economic development zone, Teng’ao development zone, Liaoning magnesite new material industrial base, Haicheng agricultural and high-tech industrial zone, and Haicheng circular economy industrial park. It also has the 3A-rated Baiyunshan national tourist attraction, provincial-level Jiulongchuan natural reserve and Sanchahe wetland natural reserve. Haicheng ranks 10th among the top 100 small and medium-sized cities in China in terms of overall strength.

Jurong takes ecological environment as the most precious asset for development and the biggest potential for it to achieve leapfrog progress. Aiming to build a national ecological city and national exemplary city for environmental protection, Jurong stepped up ecological efforts by placing equal importance on protection and development. Ecology is its most precious asset for development, without which Jurong’s competitiveness would be largely compromised. Therefore, the city strongly advocated the idea of “prosperity through ecological progress and green rise”. On the one hand, it exploited ecological resources scientifically.