New life of "marginal cities" in the Yangtze River Delta on the frontier
The Yangtze River Delta, which consists of Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui and one city, has been a prosperous and civilized place in China since the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In contemporary China, the economic and geographical figures of the Yangtze River Delta that are often seen in the media are as follows: it occupies 1/26 of the country's land area, but accommodates nearly 1/6 of the country's population and creates 1/4 of the country's total economic output.
Behind these figures, the development zones, free trade zones, industrial zones and new cities in the Yangtze River Delta are constantly playing an important role. On the one hand, they have expanded the boundaries and space for growth and progress of the old cities with a long history and profound cultural heritage in the Yangtze River Delta; on the other hand, they are not a simple spillover of residents, industries and lifestyles of the old cities, but they are constantly creating and leading new production and lifestyles, attracting tens of thousands of locals and foreign pioneers, entrepreneurs and migrants.
Therefore, looking at the world, they are the Chinese version of "edge cities" - new cities that are geographically close to or backed by old cities, accommodating more and more people to live and work in peace and contentment. In the past, similar "edge cities" were also the happy places for many local residents and new immigrants in developed countries in Europe and the United States. For this reason, Joel Garro, a reporter for the Washington Post, once wrote a book: "Edge Cities: New Life on the Frontier".
In response to the requirements of the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta and the latest policies such as the country's "new quality productivity" and a new round of real estate finance "combination punch", there is still a lot of work that needs further thinking and development for the future development and improvement of the "marginal cities" in the Yangtze River Delta.
First, in addition to living and working in peace and contentment, innovation, development leadership and improvement of the industrial system, the "marginal cities" in the Yangtze River Delta need to consider how to improve their development results. For example, Jiading, Shanghai and nearby Huaqiao, Kunshan, have achieved cross-jurisdictional rail transit interconnection in recent years, which has facilitated more and more residents of the two places to use rail transit to work or live in each other's jurisdiction - this is rare in the development history of "marginal cities" in developed countries in Europe and the United States. For this reason, can Jiading and Huaqiao be simply said to be "marginal cities" that were once strongly dependent on private cars? If not, how should such cross-administrative district "marginal city clusters" with continuous development and rail transit support, where you have me and I have you, further consider and improve their development results?
Second, the "edge cities" in the Yangtze River Delta are not homogeneous. The composition of residents, land use, industrial development level, building form, content and level of public service facilities in different plots are also extremely diverse and even complex. For example, in Jiading, on the one hand, brand new driverless test vehicles can often be seen on the main road; on the other hand, dilapidated electric vehicles or second-hand cars can often be seen on the country roads. The new and the old, the city and the countryside, the future and the present, the foreign and the local elements collide here, and the formulation of various policies and actions between them needs to be more inclusive.
Third, how should the "edge cities" in the Yangtze River Delta respond to future development? Compared with the corresponding old cities, "edge cities" may have more new housing stocks. Can they propose and enjoy more favorable real estate finance and even household registration policies? For example, in immigration countries such as Canada and Australia, new immigrants are allowed to invest in specific areas or work in specific areas for a certain period of time in exchange for faster immigration application approval. In some areas of the Yangtze River Delta, there is also enough housing, land, facilities and other surpluses to accommodate more people and industries. Can they consider introducing similar policies?
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