Under the dual circular economy pattern, what opportunities and challenges will be faced by the development of metropolitan areas and urban agglomerations in the future?
During the "two sessions" of the national people's congress this year, the four mainstream media of Red Star News, The Paper, Southern Metropolis Daily and Beijing Youth Daily joined forces to jointly launch the special plan of "'City' Upward Trend - Exploring the Power Source of China's High-quality Development", with a set of in-depth observations and an online forum, contributing light and light to the future development of urban agglomerations.
This morning, Wang Yiming, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and vice chairman of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, delivered a keynote speech with the theme of "New Characteristics of China's Metropolitan Area Development under the New Development Pattern" at the online forum of "The City "Momentum" - Exploring the Power Source of China's High-quality Development". Wang Yiming has long conducted in-depth research on related issues such as metropolitan areas and urban agglomerations. On issues such as the development trend of urban agglomerations and opportunities for inland cities, Wang Yiming also accepted an exclusive interview with Red Star News.
The metropolitan area has become a new outlet
All localities should not pursue a homogeneous development model
Red Star News: Many urban circles have been launched, and the metropolitan area has become a "new outlet". What kind of area do you think is suitable for better development of the metropolitan area, and are there any prerequisites?
Wang Yiming: In the usual sense, a metropolitan area is an urbanization space form within an urban agglomeration centered on a super megacity or a large city with strong radiation-driven functions, with a commuting circle of about 1 hour as the basic scope. To cultivate and develop a metropolitan area, the first is to have a core city with a relatively strong radiation force. Areas without core cities can hardly be called metropolitan areas. Second, there must be enough hinterland space, and the surrounding area can support the development of core cities. Third, it is necessary to have a relatively developed infrastructure network such as transportation. Fourth, the core cities and surrounding areas must have relatively close economic ties and industrial division of labor. Fifth, we must have a relatively high level of economic development and urbanization. At present, a large number of cities want to develop metropolitan areas, but some cities may not be fully equipped and cannot rush to achieve results.
Red Star News: How should the development of metropolitan areas in various places be focused and how to avoid convergence?
Wang Yiming: The resource endowments and development conditions of each metropolitan area are not exactly the same, and the economic structure and industrial form are also very different. To avoid convergence, it is necessary to highlight the development characteristics of each metropolitan area. Like the Shanghai Metropolitan Area, the Beijing Metropolitan Circle, the Guangzhou Metropolitan Circle, the Chengdu Metropolitan Circle, and the Wuhan Metropolitan Circle, it should be said that there are differences, and it is necessary to strengthen the differences, rather than convergence. Of course, the development of metropolitan areas has common laws, but it is more professional and more prominent in the development direction. Taking Chengdu and Chongqing as an example, Chengdu is dominated by the electronics industry, biomedicine and other industries, and Chongqing is an industrial system dominated by machinery manufacturing, automobiles and motorcycles. The two industrial systems are obviously different. It is necessary to create a unique metropolitan area according to their respective conditions and industrial base, and cannot pursue a homogeneous metropolitan area development model.
Red Star News: You said before that the status of urban agglomerations and metropolitan areas in the domestic cycle will rise, what should the upward trend be in the next 5 years?
Wang Yiming: Generally speaking, China's economic development is still in the stage of agglomeration in terms of space, not a trend of decentralization. In recent years, both the development of high-tech industries and the development of digital industries have gathered in central cities. Urban agglomerations and metropolitan areas have a relatively developed higher education system, a scientific research system, and a relatively strong human capital foundation. Knowledge- and technology-intensive industries tend to converge on urban agglomerations and metropolitan areas. The development of these industries will attract more high-end talents, attract more high-end human capital, and form a cumulative cycle. From the perspective of the next 5 years, the status of urban agglomerations and metropolitan areas in the domestic cycle will continue to rise.
How to become an international urban agglomeration?
The standards for regulating rules should be in line with international practice
Red Star News: How can China's major urban agglomerations become international urban agglomerations?
Wang Yiming: To build an international urban agglomeration, it is fundamentally necessary to expand opening up and further improve the degree of openness. From the perspective of the whole country, the degree of internationalization of coastal areas is rapidly increasing, and more importantly, the urban agglomerations in inland areas should further improve their openness. With the acceleration of the construction of the "Belt and Road", the central cities that were originally deeply inland are now more and more qualified, such as Chengdu and Xi'an, which are becoming distribution centers for the import and export of goods in inland areas due to the opening of China-Europe express trains and become a hub. These cities are gradually developing from relatively closed inland cities to central cities that are facing the international market and increasingly open. From this point of view, the level of internationalization of inland central cities is also constantly improving. To build an international urban agglomeration, we must adhere to the expansion of opening up, and it is a higher level of opening up, not only the opening up of factor flows, but more importantly, the opening up of the system, and more attention is paid to the rules and regulations to the international high-standard market rule system.
Chengdu International Railway Port
Red Star News: With the pattern of double circulation, the location conditions in inland areas have improved, what advantages does this bring to the development of urban agglomerations in inland areas?
Wang Yiming: Some central cities in inland areas are originally the nodes of the domestic cycle, such as Wuhan, known as the "Thoroughfare of The Nine Provinces", which is originally the hub for the distribution of goods and personnel. With the further expansion and opening up of inland areas, the function of opening up urban agglomerations in inland areas to the outside world is gradually taking shape, becoming a distribution center for import and export goods, and the international circulation function is also enhanced. Urban agglomerations in inland areas under the new development pattern should be more qualified to develop into "double cycle" hubs, whether it is the exchange of domestic goods or the import and export of goods facing the international market, they can be clustered and intersected in these cities, which will create favorable conditions for inland urban agglomerations to enhance the function of "double circulation".
How to avoid the "big city disease" in the metropolitan area?
Cultivate and build small and medium-sized cities with different characteristics around the core area
Red Star News: How to better avoid the emergence of "big city disease" in the future development of metropolitan areas?
Wang Yiming: The metropolitan area should cultivate and develop small and medium-sized cities in the surrounding areas, so that they can evacuate some functions of the core circle, which will decompose the pressure on the core circle. The results show that the population distribution of China's metropolitan areas shows the temporal and spatial characteristics of particularly high density in the core area, that is, the congestion effect in the central urban area is high, and the agglomeration effect in the peripheral area is insufficient, and a more serious "big city disease" is often formed in the central urban area. Public resources such as education and medical care are also mainly concentrated in central urban areas. If public service resources are evenly distributed in the surrounding small and medium-sized cities, the functions of the core area can be attracted to the surrounding small and medium-sized cities. This is an effective way to solve the disease of large cities spatially.
Cultivating and building small and medium-sized cities with their own characteristics in the surrounding areas, and then connecting them with high-speed rails, on the one hand, can relieve the functions of the core area, on the other hand, it can also make the functions of the metropolitan area relatively balanced in spatial distribution.
Red Star News: What aspects should the central city start from to promote the surrounding cities?
Wang Yiming: First of all, it is necessary to promote infrastructure interconnection and use high-speed rail transit and high-speed channels to connect the surrounding small and medium-sized cities with the core area, which is the basic condition. Second, the industry must have a reasonable division of labor. The surrounding small and medium-sized cities must have a professional division of labor and characteristics, and they can relieve the various functions of the core area. For example, Beijing has gathered a large number of large enterprise headquarters, colleges and universities, and scientific research institutions, which can be relieved to the surrounding small and medium-sized cities according to the requirements of specialized division of labor. In addition, high-quality public services should be roughly balanced, so that the surrounding small and medium-sized cities will not feel that the level of public services is too large. To be broader, it also includes the construction of the ecological environment. The surrounding small and medium-sized cities have relatively open space, which can increase the construction of the ecological environment and enhance their attractiveness.
70% of the economic growth potential for the next decade will come from urban agglomerations?
High-end production factors are all clustering in urban agglomerations in metropolitan areas
Red Star News: Why do you say that more than 70% of the economic growth potential in the next 10 years will come from urban agglomerations?
Wang Yiming: You can observe from two perspectives. First, the total economic volume of urban agglomerations now accounts for about 70% of the country's total economic output. The three major coastal urban agglomerations - the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta, and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region account for about 40%, plus the urban agglomerations in the inland areas, the total economic volume accounts for 30%. Together, it's 70 percent. If you want to calculate the increment, the proportion is even higher. Second, high-quality high-end elements are flowing to urban agglomerations and metropolitan areas. 9 million college students graduated this year, looking at the flow of college students, we know the direction of the flow of factors, which also determines the potential of urban agglomerations in economic growth. High-end production factors, including talents, knowledge, technology, and data, are all gathering in urban agglomerations and metropolitan areas, and the industry is more high-end and more efficient, and the output share in the future will be greater.
Red Star News: You have talked about the "circular barrier" before, such as the problem of card neck or the problem of the industrial chain, what impact do these have on the development of the metropolitan area?
Wang Yiming: I think the metropolitan area can play a greater role in solving the problem of technology being "stuck in the neck". To solve the problem of being "stuck in the neck", the strength of the support is also mainly concentrated in the metropolitan area. To solve the "card neck" problem, it is necessary to start from the source, start from basic research, start from original innovation, and start from the underlying technology, these metropolitan areas are the most qualified and have the most advantages. The large scientific projects planned and constructed by the state are mainly allocated in metropolitan areas. For example, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Hefei have all built a number of large scientific projects. These metropolitan areas should be built into national comprehensive science centers, make breakthroughs in basic research, lay the foundation for conquering key core technologies, and create conditions for China to win the initiative in international scientific and technological competition. This determines that metropolitan areas will play a key role in the future of national scientific and technological innovation and in solving the problem of being "stuck in the neck".
Renderings of high-energy synchrotron radiation light sources of Huairou Comprehensive National Science Center
How to promote the equalization of public services?
If the metropolitan area is promoted first, it will promote the equalization of a wider range of public services
Red Star News: Previously, you suggested that the equalization of public services should be promoted within metropolitan areas and urban agglomerations, which do you think should be prioritized?
Wang Yiming: Promoting the equalization of basic public services is easier to do within the metropolitan area, and it is also the most suitable to do it. For example, Tongzhou has built a sub-center of Beijing city, some top three hospitals in Beijing have branch hospitals in Tongzhou, and some key schools have branch schools in Tongzhou, which is the specific path to promote the equalization of public services. If the scope is too large, the gap will be even greater, and the difficulty of promoting the equalization of public services will also increase. Metropolitan areas taking the lead in equalizing basic public services can create conditions for promoting the equalization of basic public services on a larger scale.
Red Star News reporter Wang Tian reported from Beijing
Edited by Yixi Chen
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