Urbanization and Urban System in the Yangtze River Delta Region

Author: Jing Xueqing / Country: Mainland China
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Publish Date: 2005-07-01
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7. Basic Countermeasures for Overcoming the Negative Effects of Urban Suburbanization
Urban suburbanization is a byproduct of regional economic development and urban growth. Since the 1990s, the suburbanization phenomenon in Shanghai has been an inevitable choice of urban development patterns. As for the problems arising during this process, as long as effective planning, regulation, and management are implemented, they can be overcome and avoided. Below are the approaches and strategic ideas for overcoming the negative effects of urban suburbanization in Shanghai:
Cities entering the stage of suburbanization often exhibit the aforementioned negative outcomes, primarily due to the spontaneous, low-density dispersion of industries, populations, and their facilities from the central urban area into the suburbs, as well as the scattered, small-scale layout of suburban towns. This requires macro regulation by the government to actively guide and plan urban suburbanization, steering it toward a rational direction. The basic approach is as follows:
Plan and construct an appropriate number of new cities in locations relatively close to the central urban area, concentrating the population and industries that have moved out of the central urban area within these new cities. This will form several urban subcenters of considerable scale, ensuring that industries and populations are relatively concentrated rather than scattered across the suburbs.
The requirements for building and developing such new city subcenters are as follows:
First, in terms of function, it should not be a purely residential area (i.e., a dormitory town), a purely industrial area, or a purely commercial and service area, but rather a comprehensive economic and social complex. Most or the majority of residents settling in the new city should live, work, consume, and relax within it. The new city construction and development in Shanghai in the new century should differ from the suburbanization process in Western countries during the 1950s, as well as from the simple spatial diffusion of central city functions. Instead, it should participate in the broader functional transformation of the entire urban region, serving as an important component of urban spatial expansion. It should be a new urban functional entity and a relatively "independent" new city.
Second, in terms of scale, it is generally advisable to have a population of 200,000 to 300,000 (though the population can be larger depending on the actual situation), effectively forming the population scale of a medium-sized city. This ensures higher efficiency in economic, social, and environmental operations. Based on international experience in new city construction, successful new cities that achieve self-sufficiency typically have a population of around 300,000. From an economic perspective, a medium-sized city with 300,000 residents is the optimal urban scale, exhibiting strong agglomeration and radiation effects. Domestically, towns with comprehensive functions and a certain quality of living and social services should not be too small, typically having a population of 200,000 to 300,000. In such cities, it is easier to combine the advantages of both large and small cities while avoiding their respective shortcomings, offering the convenience of urban life, work, and entertainment without the congestion and inconveniences of a large city.
Third, in terms of its location relative to the central urban area, the distance between the new city and the central urban area should be 25 to 50 kilometers, with green belts in between. Otherwise, if the distance is too close, the new city may merge with the central urban area, leading to the drawbacks of "pancake-like" urban expansion. If the distance is too far, the new subcenter may lack convenient connections with the central urban area, making it difficult to develop or resulting in poor development outcomes.
Fourth, in terms of connectivity with the central urban area, it must be connected by high-grade trunk highways, preferably expressways or even rail transit lines, to maintain convenient links with the central urban area. Based on the development experience of megacities abroad, their central urban areas and new cities are well-connected by extensive rail transit networks. In London, Paris, and Tokyo, urban functions and the commuting ring have deeply integrated into surrounding new cities, ensuring sufficient green open spaces and maintaining a high quality of living and living environment. The spatial separation of urban functions and their integration with the natural environment is achieved through this spatial leap, rather than through sprawl, with rail transit development being a key factor.
Fifth, in terms of urban construction standards, the new city should be a modern urban center with high standards, with construction quality and levels not inferior to those of the central urban area. This includes high-quality infrastructure such as roads, communications, education, sports, healthcare, culture, and technology, all of which should enhance residents' sense of belonging and identity with the new city. With the formation and development of the new global socioeconomic landscape, urban environmental construction has become a strategic goal for urban development, emphasizing human-centered, eco-friendly regional and urban construction to attract more population and new economic activities. High-standard, high-starting-point planning and construction of the living and working environments in the new city should continuously improve their quality and level, making the new city not only attractive to residents of surrounding towns but also to more residents from the central urban area.
Building such new city subcenters can overcome the negative effects of urban suburbanization. The mechanism of action is as follows:
First, the construction of new city subcenters involves the development of medium-sized cities with concentrated functions. By concentrating the population and industries moving out of the central urban area into these subcenters, it prevents their low-density dispersion in the suburbs, reduces land occupation, and conserves valuable land resources. At the same time, it enhances the economic strength of the towns, enabling them to better address environmental pollution. Industrial and domestic "three wastes" (waste gas, waste water, and solid waste) can be centralized and treated, reducing disposal costs and improving the ecological environment quality of suburban towns.
Second, the new city subcenters are comprehensive economic and social complexes. Residents settling here can both work and live, with complete and high-quality facilities, eliminating the need for frequent commutes between the new city and the central urban area. This naturally reduces urban traffic loads and lowers residents' transportation costs.
Third, the phenomenon of household-separation exists primarily because suburban infrastructure lags behind that of the central urban area, leading to a lack of belonging and identity among residents. Particularly, poor quality of social services such as healthcare and education makes residents reluctant to leave their household registration in the central urban area, where they enjoy high-quality services. However, the modern facilities and services in the new city subcenters (no less than those in the central urban area) can address these issues, encouraging residents to gradually move their household registration to the suburbs. This will naturally reduce household-separation and the associated management problems.
Finally, the decline in population in the central urban area will naturally lead to a corresponding reduction in commercial and service revenue. However, this loss is much smaller than the losses caused by concentrating too many people in the central urban area. Therefore, when considered comprehensively, it is still beneficial. Moreover, with the shift in functions, the proportion of commercial and service industries in the central urban area will decline, replaced by an increase in the proportion and enhancement of modern service industries such as finance and office services. This optimizes the industrial structure of the central urban area. Simultaneously, commercial and service industries in the central urban area can develop toward higher-end markets, forming a complementary relationship with the service industries of the suburban new city subcenters. Most of the consumption of new city residents will take place locally, while a small portion can be addressed through the convenient transportation links between the new city and the central urban area.
Table 4—11 lists the top ten towns in Shanghai's suburbs. These ten towns have relatively strong foundational conditions, significant economic scale, and a certain population size, with a certain distance from the central urban area and relatively complete living and service facilities. They are all potential candidates for the construction of new city subcenters in Shanghai and may become new city subcenters. However, based on a comprehensive assessment of various factors, five towns—Songjiang, Jiading, Qingpu, Huinan, and Nangqiao—have better conditions for building new cities and should be prioritized for development and construction.
The Shanghai municipal government has determined that during the "Tenth Five-Year Plan" period, it will focus on building "one city and nine towns" in the suburbs, with the "one city" referring to the new city subcenter. Songjiang Town has been explicitly selected. In recent years, during the process of industrialization, Songjiang Town did not become an economic hub like Baoshan, but it is one of the better-developed towns in Shanghai's suburbs, with the largest population size in the suburbs and a moderate distance from the central urban area, attracting sufficient population and industries.
What is particularly significant is that in the new round of Shanghai urban planning, a university town will be built in Songjiang Town by 2010. The university town will primarily produce knowledge products and new technologies, serving as a spatial product adapted to the needs of the knowledge economy era.
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