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Time for small towns to turn tourist heavens into ‘homes’
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AFTER building Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen into world-class cities, Chinese urban planners are eyeing something less grandiose in scale: to build and develop iconic towns.
The definition of “iconic town” is open to interpretation, and so far there is no consensus on its criteria. But the ambiguity has not prevented the “iconic town” frenzy.
It is fueled, in large part, by a government directive in 2016. It pledged to create around 1,000 vibrant iconic towns by 2020, each specializing in a certain field: tourism, trade, logistics, education, culture and heritage, to name but a few.
As with the fate of some similar initiatives, this directive unwittingly led to a blind campaign of producing iconic towns in many regions, some with lofty names like “Internet towns” or “smart manufacturing towns” that belie their humble origins. Yet this campaign, however pompous, is hardly the solution to myriad problems confronting small Chinese cities and towns.
During the recent Shanghai Forum held by Fudan University, Professor Peng Zhenwei from Tongji University said that as major Chinese cities become increasingly expensive to outsiders, the emphasis on small and medium towns might be an important change of tack amid China’s ongoing urbanization.
In what is arguably the world’s largest human migration, an average of 20 million rural residents flock to Chinese cities each year, bringing the country’s urbanization rate to well over 60 percent, said Peng.
The influx of migrants poses a challenge to the urban welfare system and service provision, while also contributing to a host of social issues, most notably, left-behind children and senior citizens.
For policy makers, there is a need to encourage migrants to be employed closer to home, preferably in adjoining towns. In practice, however, the development of these towns is severely hampered by, among other factors, a lack of population, industry and public facilities, said Peng.
Citing a joint study commissioned by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, which surveyed residents of 121 towns from 31 provinces and municipalities, he said 70 percent of the respondents still have a rural hukou, or household registration, enabling them to stay connected to their rustic roots.
The study also found that aging is an even bigger problem in small towns than major cities, because young people have flocked to cities in search of work, leaving behind the elderly. This reflects the lack of employment opportunities that will undermine the appeal and sustainability of small towns.
The study has a positive conclusion, though. It reports a high level of resident satisfaction with life in towns, for they are “free of air pollution, traffic congestion and all the maladies usually associated with urban life.”
In addition, the National Bureau of Statistics revealed that population outflows from rural areas continue, albeit at a decreased rate.
This is a good sign, indicating that a growing number of migrants are enticed to stay behind.
Stressing the importance of China’s 20,000 plus small towns, with a population each ranging from 2,500 to 50,000, Peng said they work like a “buffer” between cities and countryside and thus could alleviate the notorious “urban-rural dichotomy.”
Ideally, the key to obtaining iconic town status is not through commercial development — usually in the form of real estate projects cropping up everywhere. Instead, it lies in an amalgam of local strengths in environment, culture, infrastructure and innovative administration, Peng believes.
In his view Zhejiang can serve as an example. The coastal province boasts many picturesque towns and through blending their cultural heritage with natural scenery, it has managed to build a reputation as a tourist heaven.
Zhejiang’s experience is a source of inspiration for other localities, including Yunnan. The southwestern province is home to backpacker heavens like Lijiang and Dali, but in recent years the much less well-known city of Yuxi has managed to steal some spotlight thanks to its successful experiment with urban planning.
Tailored to local conditions
A guest speaker at the forum, Dong Jinzhu, director of Yuxi’s planning bureau, described himself as an environmental refugee who sought shelter in Yuxi, traditionally known for its rich supply of fossils and quality tobacco leaves.
Dong used to work in Beijing but mounting concerns about air pollution in the Chinese capital prompted him to move to Yuxi, a city of 500,000 where air quality index readings are below 50 all year long.
In studying the urban planning strategy of Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province, he said the biggest thing he learned was that a city must adopt changes tailored to its specific conditions to be able to stand out. For example, a “sponge city” blueprint aimed at better capture and storage of rainwater was implemented to ease impact of the city’s arid climate.
Furthermore, elements like folklore and customs of local ethnic minorities were blended with the sophisticated art of farming on the plateau to lure tourists from afar and, finally, the city, already lush enough, is adding more greenery to make it a livable “garden city” for inhabitants.
“Basically every city and town in Yunnan is a tourist heaven. But the next big thing for us is to turn tourist sites into places that people call home,” said Dong.
Reflecting on a clear trend of migration from coastal areas back to inland provinces, we are reminded of the famous line by late sociologist Fei Xiaotong (1910-2005), who once said “China’s small towns pose huge problems.”
Today’s urban planners need to revisit Fei’s aphorism, especially when they appear to have lost sight of their real intentions in their pursuit of the landfall brought by the property boom.
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