Xiong’an: China Is Building an Unprecedented City of the Future

About 100 kilometers from Beijing, on the shore of Lake Baiyangdian, known as the “Pearl of North China,” a city is being built almost from scratch in an open field. It could become a model for future cities and a testing ground for construction technologies and urban planning.

China often impresses with the scale of its construction projects. Here, however, construction sites span dozens of square kilometers. Underground utilities and roads, engineering facilities, residential buildings, and offices are all being built simultaneously.

The city was designed using modern urban planning principles to provide a comfortable place to live and work. Some central government agencies and major corporate offices are expected to relocate here from Beijing.

Xiong'an is often compared to the world-famous Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and Shanghai's ultra-modern Pudong district. Construction of Xiong'an began in 2017 on the personal initiative of Chinese President Xi Jinping. In 2018, the “Master Plan for the Development of Xiong'an New Area in Hebei Province” was approved, setting out development through 2035.

The plans call for a green city with developed infrastructure and a fast transportation network, advanced technologies, improved water supply, and optimized energy use. Construction will follow the master plan strictly and be closely supervised by the authorities, with no unauthorized changes.

According to 2021 figures, the city already had more than 1 million residents. It has facilities for business development and everyday life. Xiong'an now has around 1.4 million permanent residents, and the new innovation hub is expected to reach a total population of 3 million. Residents of Beijing are also expected to relocate there.

Approximately US$118 billion has been invested in construction. Around 4,000 companies and firms were registered in the city as of 2020. As of September 2022, private capital investment totaled 400 billion yuan (about US$57 billion).

Headquarters for the chemical group Sinochem Group and the raw materials company China Mineral Resources Group, along with a power generation facility for China Huaneng Group, are under construction. The focus is on developing the latest innovation industries.

Branches and technology centers of aerospace, telecommunications, and other innovative companies have already opened. Satellite campuses of several Beijing universities are expected to open by 2025. The city is connected to Beijing by high-speed rail and an expressway.

Hebei Province, where the new innovation area is located, plans to invest 103.5 billion yuan (about US$15.4 billion) in transportation construction in 2023 to promote coordinated development of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei transportation network.

The concept behind Xiong'an shows just how new and unprecedented the project is. It calls for three cities: one above ground, one underground, and one “in the cloud.” The underground city consists of engineering tunnels beneath major roads, carrying water and power lines, communications cables, and other utilities.

Special corridors for automated cargo and goods delivery will also be located there. The “city in the cloud” refers to digital Xiong'an, which is being developed alongside the physical city above and below ground.

It will touch every aspect of life, from infrastructure and technical system management to everyday virtual services and extensive use of the digital yuan. Construction workers and other city employees are already paid in digital yuan. Residents can also use it to pay in stores without physical or virtual cards, using AI and facial recognition systems.

Xiong'an is being developed around a “five-minute neighborhood” concept, giving residents access to healthcare, schools, preschools, and other everyday services within a five-minute walk.

Public transport is expected to handle 90% of urban traffic. Automated electric vehicles will operate alongside a sophisticated camera and traffic management system, intended to eliminate traffic jams in the city.

Special attention is being paid to ecology and the urban environment. Xiong'an is intended to become an example of China's “green development.” In 2017, the first year of its development, around 14 million trees and shrubs were planted. Agricultural operations that polluted the environment were eliminated.

Strict emissions limits will prevent the establishment of polluting industries. Up to half of the city's energy will be produced from renewable sources.

Overall, Xiong'an is expected to become a testing ground for technologies and concepts for future cities as envisioned by the Communist Party of China: a city for development and a city for people. Nothing quite like it exists elsewhere in the world yet.

source: svpressa.ru