Lanzhou New Area

Planning map of Lanzhou New Area

Lanzhou New Area (simplified Chinese: 兰州新区; traditional Chinese: 蘭州新區; pinyin: Lánzhōuxīnqū) is a state-level new area (special economic and political administration zone) under the direct control of Lanzhou Municipal Government established in 2012. It is located in the valley around Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport, 30 kilometres from the old city of Lanzhou. It is the first state-level new development area in northwestern China, and the fifth state-level new area in the country.^[1][2]

Background

The establishment of Lanzhou New Area (abbreviated as LNA) is the culmination of multiple strategies both from Chinese Central Government and Gansu Provincial Government. Since China launched its "Go West" initiative in 2000, several Western Provinces, such as Shanxi, Guangxi, etc. have seen a flurry of investments during the last decade due to the favorable policies those provinces received from China’s Central Government.^[3] With huge amount of capital investment issued from State’s Financial Department, those western provinces developed rapidly with a progressive GDP growth rate, a gradually mature industry structure and an efficient communication system. Though those provinces mentioned above developed quickly, none of those fast developing provinces are actually located in the West of China, although the Chinese Central Government classified them into the 12 Western provinces. For instance, Guangxi Province is a coastal region in southwestern China, bordering the South China Sea and Vietnam, an ASEAN country.

Lanzhou is intended to achieve the ideal of 'common wealth' as outlined by the Communist Party of China through the rapid development of Western provinces. The geographical location of LNA holds significant advantage to its future economic growth. Lanzhou, 30 kilometres from LNA, is the biggest city among two megacities (Ürümqi and Xi'an) in this vast region, and is adjacent to two other capital cities, (Xining of Qinghai Province and Yinchuan of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region). These three capital cities are close enough to form a regional economic conglomeration, and LNA is the center of this amalgamation. The development of LNA will boost the development of its adjacent areas. Lanzhou's main area is constrained by its geographical topography, since it is a typical valley which can be described as sandwiched by two mountains, with the Yellow River crossing by. The topography of Lanzhou hampers this city to become a megacity like Beijing or Xi’an. The General Office of the State Council issued the Several Advice about Supporting the Development of Economy and Society of Gansu Province in May 2010, especially stating that Lanzhou has to be the impetus of the development of Gansu Province, even the whole northwestern region; not long after, on August 3, 2010, Lanzhou Municipal Government, by the 7th Session of the 11th convention of Lanzhou Municipal Council, announced the strategy of building a new city in Qinwang Flat Plain which now called Lanzhou New Area, then, Gansu Provincial Government issued the Consulting Advice about Promoting Constructions in Lanzhou New Area in order to support the development of LNA.

On August 20, 2012 Lanzhou New Area was approved by the State Council of China's Central Government as the fifth state-level new area.^[2]

In order to construct the city, 6000 workers and more than 3000 excavators were brought in to flatten hundreds of mountain tops, thereby making land which could be built upon.^[1]

Blueprint

General Objectives

On June 22, 2011, the first press conference was held by the Administration Council of Lanzhou New Area (ACLNA). The ACLNA issued the General Planning of Lanzhou New Area (2011-2030), confirming the objectives of LNA: Strong Industrial City, Ecological Green City, Multiple Lakes City, Modern New City. The ACLNA aims to achieve a GDP of 50 billion RMB, 100 billion RMB and 270 billion RMB by years 2015, 2020 and 2030 respectively in LNA. The objective renders the economic and geographical scale of LNA to be equivalent to that of Lanzhou main city within 20 years.

Specific Objectives

Development

The area has been described as a ghost town, as it still houses far less than the anticipated population number of 1 million people. As of 2017,city officials insist that LNA has 150 000 residents plus 40 000 construction workers, though a journalist from The Guardian who visited the site suspected that these numbers were "wildly inflated" and asserted that large parts of the city remained vacant.^[3]

The area will include replicas of many famous monuments from around the world, including the Great Sphinx, the Parthenon, and the Great Wall of China.

Transportation

Communication systems are the core of the development of Lanzhou New Area, owing to the differences with other Chinese new areas. The common model of Chinese new areas can be exemplified as a giant plain area which needs to be expanded. It is a spontaneous urbanization of the old main city area, and short distances between the new areas and their respective main cities are advantageous for the new areas' development. Lanzhou’s peculiar topography has the planned LNA located 30 kilometers away from its main city, and the linkage between the new and the old area becomes a crucial factor for its development.

References

External links

• Official website
• "Area plan map". 26 March 2015. Archived from the original on 25 March 2016.