Cities 43 (2015) 18–27

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Cities
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cities

City profile

City profile: Chengdu

Bo Qin ⇑
Department of Urban Planning and Management, School of Public Administration and Policy, Renmin University of China, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Chengdu, located at the western edge of the Sichuan Basin, is the provincial capital of Sichuan Province.
Received 6 October 2014 The fertile and well-watered basin has given the city a long and splendid history, which has left signifi-
Received in revised form 5 November 2014 cant and lasting imprints on its urban form, landscape and cultural life. In the planned economy period,
Accepted 5 November 2014
Chengdu serviced as the economic, cultural, logistical and technological center for southwest China, and
built a competitive and broad industrial base which now helps the city maintain its leading position in
the region. In 2007, Chengdu was assigned as one of two pioneer cities in coordinating urban–rural devel-
Keywords:
opment. This paper introduces the urban development of Chengdu as a historical city, summarizes the
Chengdu
Chinese city
city’s economic growth, urban spatial transformation and infrastructure construction as a major city in
Western China western China, and discusses its recent efforts in coordinating urban–rural development as a pioneering
Coordinated urban–rural development city in China.
˘ 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Introduction and counties. Administrative divisions and grassroot organizations

of Chengdu are reported in Table 1.
Chengdu’s literal meaning is ‘‘forming (成, cheng) capital (都, Among other nicknames such as the ‘‘City of Hibiscus” (蓉城,
du)” in Chinese, and it is one of the most historically important cit- Rong Cheng) and ‘‘Brocade City” (锦城, Jin Cheng), Chengdu has been
ies in China. It is the capital city of Sichuan Province, serving as a known through history as the ‘‘Land of Abundance” (天府之国, Tian
political, industrial, culture, logistics, and technology center in Fu Zhi Guo) because of its fertile Chengdu Plain. The Plain has been
the province and a major economic center for the whole of south- home to more than four thousand years of civilization, and boasts a
west China. Chengdu is located in the Chengdu Plain of the Sichuan distinct dialect, opera, art, music, and other arts and crafts. As for the
Basin, one of China’s most fertile and well-watered regions, with a city, the name, Chengdu, has remained unchanged for more than
large expanse of flat cultivable arable land. The plain has been able two thousand years since the 5th king of the Kaiming Kingdom, a
to feed the region’s population and export an agricultural surplus local state of Shu (蜀) culture, moved his capital to the city’s current
for millennia. In 2010 Sichuan Province had a population of location in the early 4th century B.C. The built-up area of Chengdu
87,247,000 with a land area of 485,000 km2, while Chengdu had constructed then still belongs to the central city of Chengdu
a population of 14.05 million with a land area of 12,390 km2 today. Millennia of civilization have left remarkable imprints on
(CSB, 2011). the city, which makes Chengdu a useful reference to understand
Given its historical importance, cultural richness, and economic urban planning and development through Chinese history.
strength, Chengdu was officially granted sub-provincial adminis- An important feature differentiates this profile from the others:
trative status by the Central Government of China on February Chengdu’s location in the west of China. Since the integration of
25, 1994. After several rounds of administrative boundary adjust- China’s economy into the world economic system, many cities in
ment, today Chengdu consists of nineteen separate administrative eastern China have experienced dramatic urban growth and spatial
units—nine districts, four county-level cities, and six counties. transformation. Shanghai and Beijing, for instance, have emerged
There are 193 townships and 1771 village committee in Chengdu. as global cities in the world urban system, and even compete with
The nine districts are located in the urban core and are quite dense the first-tier world cities such as New York, London, Tokyo and
and urban. The surrounding counties and cities are less dense. Paris. However, they are very different from most of the cities in
Fig. 1 shows the location of Chengdu and its urban districts, cities, western China.
Even a cursory glance at the city profiles of Cities: The Interna-
tional Journal of Urban Policy and Planning shows that cities in wes-
⇑ Address: Qiushi Building 430, Renmin University, Zhongguancun Street 59,
tern China have received far less attention from scholars than cities
Beijing 100872, China. Tel./fax: +86 10 62514875.
E-mail address: [email protected] in eastern, coastal China. The Chinese cities documented in the

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2014.11.006
0264-2751/˘ 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 B. Qin / Cities 43 (2015) 18–27 19

Fig. 1. Location of Chengdu and the districts, cities, and counties in Chengdu.

series include Qingdao (Zhang & Rasiah, 2013), Beijing (Yang, Cai, occupies 72% of China’s total land area. Chengdu was set as a key
Ottens, & Sliuzas, 2013), Xiamen (Tang, Zhao, Yin, & Zhao, 2013), center in China’s national ‘‘Grand Western Development” cam-
Zhuhai (Sheng & Tang, 2013), Urumqi (Dong & Zhang, 2011), paign launched in 2000 to bring the level of development in wes-
Macau (Tang & Sheng, 2009), Wuhan (Han & Wu, 2004), Guangz- tern China closer to the level of more developed cities in coastal
hou (Xu & Yeh, 2003), Chongqing (Han & Wang, 2001), and Baoji China (Goodman, 2004). As national policy shifts more resources
(Wang & Hague, 1995). Among them only three are in western and attention to the west of the country, this profile aims to
China: Urumqi, Chongqing and Baoji, despite the fact that the redress the balance in urban development literature by shedding
western China includes 12 provinces or autonomous regions and light on western China.
20 B. Qin / Cities 43 (2015) 18–27

Over the past decade Chengdu became a new focus in China’s axis dates back to when the 5th king of the Kaiming Kingdom
urban system as the national government has urged all Chinese constructed his capital. It was the direction of the most frequent
cities to learn from the city’s experience with coordinated winds that swept across the Chengdu Plain. It is amazing that
urban–rural development. Since 2003 Chengdu has launched 2400 years ago the wind direction was noticed and utilized to plan
wide-ranging reforms to coordinate urban and rural development. and construct the city. Even now, the axis is still noticeable in the
In 2007, the Central Government of China recognized Chengdu’s road network of central Chengdu.
efforts and designated it as one of two pioneer cities (the other is Between 221 B.C. and 220 A.D. (the Qin and Han dynasties)
Chongqing) in comprehensive reforms for coordinated urban–rural Chengdu evolved into a nationally important metropolis, thanks
development (Abramson & Qi, 2011; Ye & LeGates, 2013). largely to the Dujiangyan irrigation system. This was built in 256
To sum up, this profile aims to: (1) provide a brief account of the B.C. and still plays an important role in agriculture across the Chen-
urban development history in Chengdu as one of the most histor- gdu Plain today (Fig. 3). During the successful Western Han
ical cities in China, (2) analyze the industrial and economic growth Dynasty (206 B.C. to 9 A.D.) population figures for Chengdu can
of Chengdu as a major city in the western China, and (3) summa- be reliably estimated at around 400,000, making it one of the six
rize the reforms for coordinated urban–rural development in main metropolises in China. There was a highly developed brocade
Chengdu. The final section discusses the future challenges production industry in place, so important that the central govern-
confronting the city. ment assigned the Jin Guan (Brocade Official) here, charged with
administering the industry, which led to Chengdu being given
the name ‘‘Jin Guan (Brocade) City”. During the Three Kingdoms
Historical development of ancient Chengdu period, the capital of the Shu Kingdom was set in today’s down-
town Chengdu, and that period has left numerous historical and
Chengdu’s long history of civilization can be traced back to four cultural sites in the city, such as Wuhouci Temple, shown in Fig. 3.
thousand years ago, when the region was inhabited by peoples During the Sui and Tang dynasties, from 581 A.D. to 907 A.D.,
with a unique ancient culture and a sophisticated social structure boasting not only a rapidly-growing economy but also prosperous
in place. Archaeological evidence demonstrates that Chengdu cultural development, Chengdu became one of the top five com-
was the center of Shu culture, where a large population and pres- mercial cities in China, the others being Chang’an, Luoyang, Yuez-
ence of buildings existed in the Shang and Zhou dynasties as early hou and Taiyuan. In the Tang Dynasty, many writers and poets
as 1600 B.C. to 256 B.C. (Duan, Luo, & Xie, 2011). The name Chen- spent some part of their life in Chengdu, contributing to the local
gdu (‘‘Forming Capital”) is said to have originated from the state- cultural boom. China’s two greatest poets, Li Bai and Du Fu, were
ment of the Supreme King Tai of Zhou during the relocation of among them. One of the heritage sites popular with tourists in
his capital to Qishan in present-day Shaanxi Province, ‘‘it takes Chengdu today is the Du Fu Caotang (entrance shown in Fig. 3),
one year to form a habitat settlement, two years to form a town, where the poet lived and worked in the 760s.
and three years to form a capital” (Sima, 2013). Around the 4th Chengdu reached its peak with more thriving economic and cul-
century B.C. the 5th king of the Kaiming Kingdom was inspired tural development in the Song Dynasty between 960 A.D. and 1279
by the statement when relocating his capital from Pixian to the A.D. In particular, silk and brocade production was expanded,
city’s current location, and named the place Chengdu. which earned Chengdu the reputation of being the national center
A mid-twentieth century street map of Chengdu (Fig. 2) clearly of the textile industry, with its wide variety of brocade patterns
shows a 35 degrees east of north axis in the city’s spatial form. The and styles. In the midst of such thriving commerce and trade

Table 1
Administrative divisions and grassroot organizations in Chengdu, 2012. Source: Chengdu Statistical Yearbook (2012).

Region Land (km2) Sub-district office Residential committee Township Village committee
District
Jinjiang 61 16 64
Qingyang 66 14 75
Jinniu 108 15 109
Wuhou 122 13 59 27
Chenghua 108 14 101
Longquanyi 556 4 61 7 78
Qingbaijiang 379 2 26 7 94
Xindu 496 2 127 11 127
Wenjiang 276 4 76 6 35
County and county-level city
Jintang 1156 47 19 185
Shuangliu 1068 6 148 18 106
Pixian 437 56 14 139
Dayi 1284 66 17 152
Pujiang 580 25 8 107
Xinjin 329 26 11 80
Dujiangyan 1208 256 17
Pengzhou 1421 102 20 251
Qionglai 1377 62 18 202
Chongzhou 1089 65 19 188
Development zone
a
Gaoxin 5 47 1
Total 12,121 95 1598 193 1771
a
Gaoxin (a high-tech district) is a special designated development zone. It administers the economic development affairs of 5 sub-district offices and 1 township, but
cannot be regarded as an official administrative division.
 B. Qin / Cities 43 (2015) 18–27 21

Fig. 2. Historical street map of Chengdu in 1948. Source: Yuan (2010).

Chengdu also witnessed the emergence of ‘‘Jiao Zi”, the first its weakened economic status relative to the southeast, Chengdu
widely used paper money in the world, which was issued by the nevertheless remained the political, economic and cultural center
governmental authority of the city. of the southwest region.
During the Yuan (Mongol), Ming and Qing (Manchu) dynasties,
from the 13th century to the 19th century, China’s economic center
shifted to the southeast of the nation. Furthermore, there were Economic and urban development of modern Chengdu
local problems. Chengdu’s development was suffocated by brutal
governance and heavy taxation during the early Yuan Dynasty Industrial development
after the devastating wars that brought the Mongols to power.
By the time wars broke out again at the end of the Yuan Dynasty The establishment of a modern industrial system in Chengdu
Chengdu’s urban economy was completely shattered. Stability took place during the War of Resistance to Japan (1937–1945),
and easier taxes in the Ming Dynasty helped revitalize the city’s when the Kuomintang (Nationalist) Government retreated to
economy. However, the economic boom was terminated again by Sichuan to escape from Japanese invasion and brought a large
riots and uprisings of peasants during which Chengdu was devas- amount of factories, universities, skilled workers and academics
tated and its economy reached the lowest point in its long history. to the city. However, post-1949, during the early years of the
When the Manchu people came to power in China in the mid- People’s Republic of China (PRC), a large number of businesses
seventeenth century, the Qing government pursued a series of and cultural institutions were relocated back to the east. The
appeasement policies to encourage development. The city recov- withdrawal of companies and facilities, coupled with the severe
ered gradually and new developments began. The Wide and damage sustained by key industrial facilities as a result of the civil
Narrow Lanes were one legacy of the Qing dynasty and have now war (1946–1949), impeded the development of industry and com-
become a tourism destination full of restaurants, teahouses, bars, merce in Southwest China and triggered a period of economic stag-
and residential houses (Fig. 3). Despite all these upheavals and nation. In these difficult circumstances, Chengdu was identified in
22 B. Qin / Cities 43 (2015) 18–27

Fig. 3. The historical heritage of Chengdu.

the PRC’s first Five-Year National Economic and Social Develop- mechanical engineering (automotive), medicine and foods. This
ment Plan (1953–57) as one of China’s key national industrial cen- laid a solid foundation for the city to maintain its position as a
ters. The industrial base of Chengdu was further strengthened in major industrial center in western China. Thanks to a more rational
the Third Front Movement starting in 1964, when the Central Gov- industrial structure and an open economic system, Chengdu main-
ernment decided to put large-scale investment in the west of China tained a stable and strong GDP growth at an annual rate of over
for national defence considerations (Duan et al., 2011). 15% from 2000 to 2012. The figures are remarkable: from RMB
After years of industrial development, a comprehensive modern 115.68 billion in 2000 up to RMB 813.89 billion in 2012 (Fig. 4).
industrial system comprising various sectors from textile and food Being both an industrial base with a strong increase in jobs and
to electronics and aerospace industries was in place even before an attractive living place for the famously comfortable climate
the Reform and Opening-up that began in 1979. The universities and relaxed atmosphere, the permanent residents in Chengdu
and research institutions established also helped Chengdu gain increased from 11.11 million to 14.18 during the same period
noticeable strengths in talent pool build-up and industrial devel- (Fig. 4).
opment. However, after 1979, like most cities in western China, As a result of industrial development, economic and population
Chengdu experienced a relatively slower pace of economic growth growth, Chengdu saw robust development of service industries,
than many coastal cities. This was especially true in the 1980s and especially producer services, in recent years. In 2012, Chengdu’s
1990s. primary, secondary and tertiary sectors accounted for 4.3%, 46.2%
At the turn of the millennium, under this pressure, the Chengdu and 49.5% of the economy, respectively, compared to 27.2%,
Government set specific goals to transform its planned economy to 49.7% and 23.1% respectively in 1980. As shown in Table 2, the
a market-oriented economy, to attract more foreign investment, gross output value of finance and insurance exceeded that of
and to restructure its industrial system in the city’s 10th Five-Year wholesale and retail and constituted the largest tertiary industry
Economic and Social Development Plan. A dynamic market econ- in Chengdu in 2012. Not only has the central bank of China set
omy characterized by rapid growth and increasing openness has up its southwest headquarter in Chengdu (one of nine regional
gradually emerged. For instance, there was a remarkable drop in headquarters nationally), but major international financial institu-
the percentage of investment from state-owned enterprises com- tions including Citigroup, HSBC, and Standard Chartered Bank have
pared to the total investment in fixed assets; from 47.9% in 2000 also been attracted to the city.
to 32.1% in 2012. In 2012 there were more than 220 Fortune 500
multinational corporations in Chengdu, including Intel, Maersk Urban spatial restructuring
Global Services, Walmart, Dell, Siemens, Toyota, and Microsoft
(Naisbitt & Nasbitt, 2012). As the political and economic environment has changed, so has
Chengdu took initiatives to adjust its industrial structure the physical structure of Chengdu. The evolution of Chengdu’s
and develop four pillar industries, i.e. electronic information, urban spatial structure since the founding of the PRC can be
 B. Qin / Cities 43 (2015) 18–27 23

Fig. 4. Demographics and GDP in Chengdu (2000–2012). Source: CSB (2013).

Table 2 the south as two sub-centers as well as seven peripheral satellite

Chengdu: output value of the major industries in the tertiary sector. Source: CSB towns. Accompanying the rapid growth of urban population was
(2013). the fast expansion of land use in both the central city and satellite
Gross output value of the towns, which resulted in further axis-based radiating development
industries (Million RMB) of the central city. A more sophisticated road network was devel-
2010 2012 oped with the completion of four ring roads (first ring, second ring,
third ring and the outer ring) together with multiple radiating
Wholesale and retail 49399.55 65311.88
Finance and Insurance 43728.12 74058.78
roads, which was characterized as a ‘‘three-ring-and-sixteen-
Real Estate 33168.66 42620.00 radiating-road” network.
Sum of the three major industries 126296.33 181990.66 The fifth phase began in 2007 and continues today. As one of the
Three major industries as a percentage 45.3 45.2 pilot cities for implementing the national coordinated urban–rural
of Chengdu’s total output value
development project, Chengdu discarded its ‘‘city-centered” devel-
in the tertiary sector
opment plan and turned to ‘‘Total Chengdu” planning. The city
began to put into practice its vision of a spatial structure with
one central city, two belts, five wedge-shaped green spaces and
divided into five phases. The first phase, from 1949 to 1959, began six township development corridors (Fig. 5). In the plan, the central
with a rapid axis-based (the 35 degrees east of north axis) clock- city is and should remain the main development district for urban-
wise expansion starting from the northeast, reaching to the east ization and industrialization. The purpose of the two ecological
and southeast parts of the city. The second phase, from 1960 to development belts is both to protect the environment and develop
1978, characterized by chaotic political unrest, saw extremely slow tourism as Chengdu builds itself into an international tourist city.
growth of the city’s built-up area from 39 km2 to 58 km2. This is The six corridors refer to concentrated development corridors
equivalent to an annual expansion of less than 1 km2. The axis- along main transportation lines between the central city and
based development was replaced by a slow expansion in periphe- remote destinations. They are known as the Northern, Chengguan,
ral zones. This second phase was marked by Chengdu’s first ring Chengwenqiong, Southern, Chenglong and Chengjin Corridors. The
road being established among the traditional grid-based road net- land adjacent to the corridors is planned for concentrated and rel-
works, allowing connectivity between many key roads in the city atively high-density developments. Development of these six cor-
center such as Renmin Road, Jiefang Road, and Hongxing Road. This ridors uses highways, freeways, railway and other transportation
became the prototype of a radiating road network connected by infrastructure to provide mobility to sustain high density living
ring roads, making possible future rapid expansion of Chengdu’s and dense production facilities along the corridors. The six-corri-
urban internal spatial structure. dor pattern is designed to help decentralize development away
After Reform and Opening-up in 1978, Chengdu’s spatial evolu- from the central city of Chengdu into the surrounding areas along
tion entered its third phase (1979–1995) in which the city was the transportation corridors. In conjunction with this there is great
busy with filling up the urban built-up area left by the previous effort being placed on coordinating development in rural areas for
two phases. With rapid urbanization, business and residential con- better preservation of arable land and ecological systems.
struction projects quickly filled up the city center and the available In the long-run, the central city, as a mega center, will be sur-
land within the ring road could no longer meet the growing rounded by 14 medium-sized cities connected with the six corri-
demand. At the end of the 1980s, China began to implement new dors and within this huge spatial framework there will be 34
land policies that enabled trading of urban land-use rights. As a small cities, over 150 towns, more than 2000 new rural communi-
result, the increasing urban land rent caused many enterprises to ties, and spacious open spaces consisting of arable land and natural
move out of the city center and to relocate along the radiating parks, together forming a multi-dimension spatial structure for
roads in the peripheral areas of Chengdu. The moving trend led Chengdu.
to urban land-use expansion again and, to some degree, caused To address sprawling urban land-use expansion, Chengdu has
the construction of the second ring road. created a greenbelt into its urban development plan. The city has
In the fourth phase from 1996 to 2006, urbanization became a established a 198 km2 greenbelt completely circling the densest
prevailing force to facilitate the spatial restructuring in Chengdu. part of the central city, which consists of a series of greenways
In 1996, Chengdu’s Master Plan featured major restructuring of for jogging, bicycling, and other recreational uses, and additional
its urban spatial layout including efforts to develop the east and parks and open space throughout the region. The 198 Greenbelt
24 B. Qin / Cities 43 (2015) 18–27

Fig. 5. The central city, development zones, cities and corridors in Chengdu’s latest plan. Source: Adapted from Chengdu Master Plan (2009).

Plan is between Chengdu’s third ring road and outer ring road. This capita green area has also rocketed from 3.08 square meters in
area includes a five hundred meter greenbelt outside the outer ring 2001 to 13.45 square meters in 2011. The built-up area of the cen-
road. The 198 Plan integrated planning and management of collec- tral city has been expanded from the original 18 km2 in 1949 to
tive-owned rural land and state-owned urban land to implement 354.96 km2 in 2011 (CSB, 2013).
comprehensive land use and environmental planning for economic The city has invested a large amount of funds in major construc-
development, environmental protection, and resource allocation tion projects to scale up basic infrastructure and enhance the city’s
on Chengdu’s urban fringe. For instance, some cultural and creative competiveness. The Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, for
industries such as the five golden flowers (flower nurseries devel- instance, has become the air hub for the whole of southwest China
oped for agro-tourism) are permitted in the 198 greenbelt because after continuous expansion, which has facilitated exchanges
they contribute both to urban residents’ recreation and to rural vil- between Chengdu and the world, increasingly giving the city the
lagers’ job-creation. character of an international metropolis. The city is endeavoring
to alleviate the growing pressure from city traffic with a focus on
Infrastructure construction metro system construction as well as efforts to improve the main
roads and crucial traffic junctions. Construction began on the
With robust economic growth and numerous rounds of spatial metro system in 2005 and approximately 60 km of subway lines
planning, Chengdu has witnessed dramatic changes in its urban were put into use in the end of 2013.
construction. The municipality’s investment in public facility con- Committed to investing in infrastructure construction in gen-
struction and maintenance increased from RMB 1.435 billion in eral, Chengdu strives to promote its cultural and social facilities
2000 to RMB 19.667 billion in 2011 equivalent to annual growth as well, aiming to bring the city an extra competitive edge in
of 26.9%. As of 2011, the city has developed a total road network attracting creative workers and developing creative industries. As
of 2704 km, a 5430 km drainage system, a 2427 km sewage sys- of 2011, Chengdu has set up 22 libraries and 29 museums to cover
tem, 17 sewage disposal plants, and 609 bridges including 127 the key towns and townships of the municipality. Its public health
overhead ones. Its per capita road area has doubled from 7.21 system now comprises 223 township public hospitals and 2396
square meters in 2001 to 14.98 square meters in 2011; the per village clinics. There were significant improvements from 2000 to
 B. Qin / Cities 43 (2015) 18–27 25

2011. The number of health care facilities, for instance, increased land titles on a voluntary basis and they are encouraged to move
from 1435 to 7401, while the number of beds increased from into the centralized residential quarters in the village after the
39,800 to 79,800. sales of their land titles. Another typical way is that cooperative
ventures or cooperatives are established with government funding,
under which farmers join as shareholders and together decide on
Coordinated urban–rural development in contemporary
the land use and the investment of their land title after valuation.
Chengdu
The key in land use right transfer is proper arrangement for the
affected villagers. An innovative approach introduced by Chengdu
In 2002 the 16th Chinese Communist Party Plenary Conference
is to utilize the urban–rural land linking policy enacted by the Min-
proposed a new policy of coordinated urban and rural develop-
istry of Land and Resources of Central Government. The Ministry is
ment. This was designed to break down the traditional urban–rural
dedicated to preserving arable land, and thus employ a strict
dual system and narrow the urban–rural gap across the nation. In
annual urban land development quota system. Beyond the cen-
the rural parts of Chengdu, sixty percent of the land area is sparsely
trally allocated quota, any amount of increase in urban land must
populated hills and mountains, and only forty percent is plains,
be offset by an equal amount of increase in rural arable land. This
where population density is high and the conflict between people
increase-increase seems impossible but actually it can be realized
and land is intense. Especially after the beginning of the Grand
by concentrating scattered rural villagers in collectively-owned
Western Development in 2000, urban economic development has
housing. In essence it is similar to the transfer of development
progressed rapidly and the urban–rural income gap has grown.
rights (TDR) in the United Sates. Chengdu has facilitated the TDR
The ratio of urban residents’ income to rural residents’ rose from
program and provided funding support for the high-quality con-
2.45:1 in 1997 to 2.61:1 in 2000, and to 2.66:1 in 2002.
struction of new concentrated housing for the affected villagers.
The following year Chengdu began experiments to implement
This approach has helped to develop the unique residential areas
the new policy with fundamental institutional, administrative,
in rural Chengdu featuring houses with local styles, well-
and social reforms (Ye & Legates, 2013). Favorable results have
developed infrastructure and sound public services (Ye & Legates,
been achieved and received attention from the Central Govern-
2013). Fig. 6 shows one such new village, Zhanqi Village in Pixian
ment. In 2007 the Central Government designated Chengdu and
of Chengdu.
the neighboring municipality of Chongqing ‘‘National Comprehen-
sive Reform Pilot Regions for Coordinated Urban–rural
Urban–rural planning
Development”. The PRC has made coordinated urban–rural devel-
opment a national priority in the current (12th) Five-Year Plan
Since 2003, Chengdu has progressively transformed its planning
(2011–2015).
system from traditional fragmented urban planning to coordinated
urban–rural planning. Before 2003 urban planning in Chengdu was
Institutional reforms horizontally and vertically fragmented. Each of the nine urban dis-
tricts, four county-level cities, and six counties that together make
Coordinating urban–rural development includes systematic and up Chengdu had its own separate land use plan and there was
bold reforms of both urban and rural areas. One radical reform was almost no coordination among the nineteen plans. Plans for land
to the hukou (household registration) system, a very influential yet use, rural development, and economic development often had con-
controversial institutional arrangement to slow down large-scale tradictory goals and called for quite different development actions
migration within China. Chengdu has undertaken five rounds of and outcomes.
household registration system reforms, in a bid to free farmers The Chengdu Planning Bureau has developed a comprehensive
from long-lasting dependence on agricultural land and eradicate planning and management approach that encompassed both urban
the inequality of urban–rural dual identity and basic rights. The and rural areas, and both physical and socioeconomic dimensions.
successful implementation of an urban–rural unified household New community infrastructure and service standards have been
registration system allowed free movement of urban and rural res- established to improve the built environment and the quality of
idents within Chengdu. All Chengdu residents, as long as they work rural life. A series of planning guides such as Public Facility Plan-
and pay for social security for more than one year, may choose to ning Guide and Socialist New Village Planning Guide are intended
live anywhere in Chengdu, and take advantages of all the public to assure that the lowest level of planning—village/community
services where they live. planning—will be done and implemented properly. At the end of
In rural China, agricultural land use rights belong to rural collec- 2012, more than 1300 new villages had been built in Chengdu
tives. It is a very ambiguous institution as a collective is neither a since 2003. Above mentioned Zhanqi Village is an example
legal entity nor a clearly defined organization, which impedes (Fig. 6). Most of the villages are surrounded by agricultural land,
valuable land from trade and development for the interests of vil- usually buffered by trees, within walking or bicycling distance of
lagers (Ho, 2001). To revive what Peruvian economist Hernando work. They are attractive, human-scale settlements, separated
DeSoto calls the ‘‘dead capital” of rural land (DeSoto, 2000), from the Chengdu conurbation and each other by undeveloped
Chengdu has been exploring new land policies concerning land greenbelt land and come reasonably close to achieving jobs/hous-
right identification, land title transfer, and provision of new flats ing balance. These new villages help rural industrial development
or houses for those whose sell their land title. The city took great and make it possible for former farmers in Chengdu to ‘‘leave the
efforts in completing the land right identification and registration land without leaving the village”.
process with precision. Following this accurate registration since Another innovative strategy for urban–rural planning in
in 2008, various models of land transfer mechanisms have been Chengdu was to employ rural planners. One hundred forty rural
gradually established in Chengdu. planners were working in Chengdu by spring 2012 (Jiang, 2012).
With the establishment of a rural land market in Chengdu, land The planners represent the interests of rural townships. They
use rights have been traded and reorganized in various ways. One inform villagers about plans and policies that affect them, facilitate
common way is that scattered land titles owned by individual public meetings, collect and transmit public opinions and sugges-
farmers’ are consolidated for scale land use, with land title transfer tions from the villagers, and help make sure village plans comply
procedures centrally taking place in the village/community land with regional standards. Rural planners are both technical experts
title transfer centers. Under this model, villagers trade out their and key decision-making participants. They play an important role
26 B. Qin / Cities 43 (2015) 18–27

Fig. 6. Zhanqi Village in Pixian, Chengdu.

in helping the townships propose new development ideas, arrange villages, with modern classrooms, playgrounds, restrooms, cafete-
construction programs and optimize land use patterns. rias, and dormitories meeting the same standards as urban middle
schools. All the efforts in coordinating urban–rural development
Equalizing social services have proved effective in promoting common development of urban
and rural areas and in making progress towards the elimination of
The new urban–rural planning approach covers all villages in urban–rural disparities in Chengdu. The ratio of urban residents’
Chengdu, even in remote mountainous areas. Efforts were made income to rural residents’ decreased from 2.66:1 in 2002 to
to remove the urban–rural disparity by establishing urban–rural 2.36:1 in 2012.
integrated social assistance, a basic medical insurance scheme, a
pension scheme, public health policies and employment policies.
Public services better enjoyed previously in urban areas have been Future development
extended to cover grass-roots communities in rural area. Employ-
ment support services, for instance, have been strengthened Millennia of urban development in Chengdu have left the city
through the delivery of employment and social insurance and the an enormous historical and cultural heritage, but also occupied a
posting of job vacancy information at community/village service large amount of arable land that restricts future development. It
centers. A digital employment and training information system should be noted that some local governments (mostly at the town-
has been established, which collects and updates recruitment ship and street office level) in Chengdu still introduce companies
information such as job type, requirements and salary and makes or invest in industries based on misinformed rationales, rather
the information available in the service centers. than planning ahead what industries it should introduce or
Equalized public services as an essential part of coordinated develop in a scientific and coordinated manner. As a result, the
urban and rural development require exponential development overall quality of industries and ecological systems in the city have
of rural infrastructure construction to match that of the urban area. been undermined. Unless this is corrected little space will be left
Chengdu has established uniform regional standards regarding for higher-value industrial development in the future. The city can-
public services to equalize services. The standards consist of clear, not afford to overlook the issue of excessive land development and
measurable descriptors of what kinds of public services have to be needs to call for more stringent development control.
provided in different levels of centers based on population and As the economic center of southwest China, Chengdu serves as
detailed requirements for specific services. The standards apply the engine of regional development. For this reason the city should
to different levels of government from the entire municipality to enhance its regional cooperation level. It should take advantage of
centers at the level of settlements below the village level. its strategic position and strengthen its alliance with Chongqing to
At the village level, for example, the standards specify that 13 form the Chengdu-Chongqing economic zone. Chengdu should also
basic services must be provided, including a primary school, cul- enhance its close link with surrounding cities such Mianyang,
tural center, sports facilities, labor and social security facility, mar- Deyang, Meishan, and Ziyang to form a regional urban cluster
kets and shops, a garbage transfer station, sewage system, etc. The that serves as a development corridor between Chengdu and
standards specify the minimum amount of physical space that Chongqing. The giant development corridor could accommodate
must be allocated for each service. For example the standards spec- a large population, investment and industries, and thus serve as
ify that each village must allocate 80 square meters for a health ‘‘powerhouse” for the whole of southwest China.
center, 80 for cultural uses such as a library, and 50 for shops for Chengdu’s recent efforts in key aspects such as the household
fertilizer and other agricultural necessities (Hu, Xue, Zeng, & He, registration, land reform, planning system, and public service
2009). improvement have tackled the root causes of urban–rural dispari-
For equalizing urban–rural social services, a great deal of new ties, better integrated the rural population into urban areas, and
construction and other development of public facilities have been achieved common development of urban and rural areas. However,
completed in rural Chengdu. For example, since 2003 Chengdu some challenges are inevitable during these efforts. For instance,
has built more than 400 standardized new middle schools in its Chengdu has been to improve the compensation standards for land
 B. Qin / Cities 43 (2015) 18–27 27

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