China unveils flexible urban planning rules to improve lives, foster new industries

Chinese authorities have introduced new measures to promote urban renewal, focusing on integrating planning and policies to enhance people's livelihoods and support the development of new industries.

The measures, issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, reflect practical needs and experiences from various regions. They are designed to address China's shift from rapid urbanization to stable development, emphasizing quality and efficiency in existing urban areas.

Xie Haixia, director of the Ministry of Natural Resources' national land spatial planning bureau, highlighted the need to enhance planning adaptability. China's territorial space planning outlines usage and development intensity for specific land parcels, designating types such as industrial, commercial, and storage land. As urban development evolves, existing plans require optimization.

The measures propose streamlining plan modification procedures and introducing flexibility in planning to maintain legal compliance while better responding to people's demands and market changes.

"On the premise of ensuring public safety and interests and not affecting the legitimate rights of surrounding parties, small renewal projects aimed at improving community public service facilities and enhancing the functions of community public spaces are allowed to be exempt from planning permits," Xie said. These projects include constructing parking areas, installing charging stations, adding elevators, and developing green spaces in residential communities.

Qi Tailong, director of the Yancheng natural resources and planning bureau in Jiangsu province, noted the city's flexible land adjustment in response to increased enthusiasm for sports due to the Jiangsu Super League, or Suchao, which attracted nearly 30,000 spectators per game and over 2 billion live broadcast views. By utilizing idle land, old buildings, and spaces under bridges, Yancheng planned and constructed 54 fitness venues, including football fields, basketball courts, and kite-flying fields.

Additionally, Xie emphasized the importance of breaking the rigid classification of land use types to establish a full-chain process from research and development to production, particularly for strategic emerging industries.

In Shanghai's Xinzhuang industrial area, land from enterprises with long-idle properties due to financial difficulties or poor management has been reclaimed or repurchased and reallocated to significant industrial projects. This has facilitated the creation of a comprehensive commercial aerospace industrial chain, including the design of rockets and satellites, core supporting components, and quality inspection.

Zhang Yan, an official from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, said that the two ministries will collaborate to ensure effective implementation of the measures. They plan to conduct thorough nationwide assessments to identify issues, update solutions, evaluate implementation effectiveness, and promote improvement.