Where is the ninth "National Central City"?

Xi, the ancient capital of Guanzhong, has become the ninth "national central city".

On February 7th, official website, the National Development and Reform Commission, issued the Notice on Printing and Distributing the Development Plan of Guanzhong Plain Urban Agglomeration (Development and Reform Plan [2018] No.220), and released the full text of Guanzhong Plain Urban Agglomeration Development Plan at the same time.

In the Guanzhong Plain Urban Agglomeration Development Plan, one thing is particularly striking, that is, the plan clearly puts forward "building Xi 'an into a national central city". This means that Xi, the ancient capital of Guanzhong for thousands of years, will officially rank among the "national central cities". In the whole country, Xi is the ninth city to win this honor.

The development plan of Guanzhong Plain Urban Agglomeration puts forward the goals of "building a national central city in Xi", "strengthening an important node city" and "cultivating and developing small and medium-sized cities" in the third section "optimizing the city scale structure".

From the name alone, "national central city" should refer to a metropolis that can serve the whole country as some functional centers. In a small country, there may be only one or two such "central cities". However, for China, a vast country, national development undoubtedly needs more "centers". Every "central city" should have two functions at the same time: as a regional center to promote regional development and a national center to serve the overall development of the country. For such a city, there is no doubt that there are extremely high requirements.

As a formal policy implemented by China, "national central city" has a clearer, clearer and more operational definition. "Haicang Internal Reference" (ID: HYCPLB) found that at this level, the national central city is the highest town level in the urban system proposed in the National Urban System Plan compiled by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development. Internally, national central cities have the functions of leading, radiating and distributing throughout the country. Externally, national central cities play an important role in developing export-oriented economy and promoting international cultural exchanges, and may develop into financial, trade, cultural and management centers in Asia and even the world.

China is a populous country and a big city. According to the United Nations standard that only a population of 6,543,800+can be called a megacity, there are countless megacities in China. In the National New Urbanization Plan (20 14-2020), this standard is set at more than 5 million people, but even according to this standard, there are 17 megacities in China.

However, to play the role of a national central city, not only a city needs to be "big enough", but also the city needs to be able to carry the central function of "engine". Therefore, not every mega-city is qualified to become a national central city.

The 20 10 National Urban System Planning (20 10-2020) not only defined the definition and functions of national central cities, but also planned the first batch of national central cities. There are five cities on the list, namely Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing and Guangzhou. Four of them are municipalities directly under the central government, but Guangzhou, which is not a municipality directly under the central government, has always been the top super-first-tier city in China, just like Beijing and Shanghai, which are often referred to as "going north to Guangzhou".

Due to the special status and great importance of national central cities, the state did not add or delete this list at will. From 20 10 to 20 16, these five cities have always been on this list. However, with the continuous development of the country, the original planning of five national central cities is not enough to adapt to the situation. It can be seen that in 20 16, the national central city ushered in an "expansion".

2016 May, with the consent of the State Council, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development jointly issued the guiding document "Chengdu-Chongqing Urban Agglomeration Development Plan", and Chengdu was listed as a national central city. 65438+ In February of the same year, Wuhan and Zhengzhou were listed as national central cities in the 13th Five-Year Plan for Promoting the Rise of Central China, which was approved by the State Council and officially issued by the National Development and Reform Commission.

So far, the number of national central cities has reached eight, which has been significantly improved, so it can better coordinate and realize the central function in planning.

However, even after the expansion in 20 16, the list of national central cities still has a shortcoming, that is, the geographical distribution is uneven. Generally speaking, among the previous eight national central cities, three are located in North China, two in East China, one in South China and two in Southwest China. Relatively speaking, there are more cities in North China and fewer cities in South China, and there are no national central cities in Guanzhong, Northeast and Northwest China.

This time, Xi was selected as a national central city, which is undoubtedly a powerful improvement to this "inequality".

With regard to "building Xi 'an into a national central city", the Guanzhong Plain Urban Agglomeration Development Plan points out in detail: speed up the construction of Xi 'an central city, strengthen the construction of Xixian New Area and Xi 'an High-tech Zone National Independent Innovation Demonstration Zone and Xi 'an National Economic and Technological Development Zone, enhance the comprehensive service to the northwest region and the gateway function of foreign exchange, enhance the strategic function of maintaining the prosperity and stability of the northwest region, and build an important economic center, foreign exchange center, Silk Road Science and Technology Innovation Center, Silk Road cultural highland, inland open highland and national gate in the western region. Protect the style of the ancient capital, coordinate the development of the old city and the new city, speed up the construction of the three-dimensional transportation system in the big Xi metropolitan area, form a multi-axis, multi-group and multi-center pattern, and build an international metropolis with historical and cultural characteristics.

In the future, the list of national central cities is likely to continue to expand. According to the report of China Newsweek, as of 20 17, in addition to Xi, which has been officially selected as a national central city, Shenyang, Nanjing, Changsha, Hangzhou, Qingdao and Xiamen are also actively striving to enter the ranks of national central cities.