At the sixth meeting of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs on January 3, a task to optimize the layout of territory in the discussion on the construction of the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle was put forward. So, what is it, and how to do that?

The train is running on the Chengdu-Chongqing railway.

Guo Jinsong, deputy to the Chongqing Municipal People’s Congress, and Professor of College of Environment and Ecology, Chongqing University, gave his answer in the interview, stating that Chongqing has opportunities and challenges, as one of the two poles in the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle. In optimizing the layout of territory, the city should first formulate a scientific plan by combining its resource advantages and regional space characteristics.

Chongqing to expand its influence to drive more tiered cities forward

Guo said that territory refers to an area under the jurisdiction of a state or an authority. It is the place and environment where people live, including land, overland waters, internal waters, territorial waters, and territorial airspace. In terms of product categories provided, the territory of a state can be divided into urban space, agricultural space, ecological space, and others.

“When it comes to the optimization of urban space, we mainly focus on industries, and take advantage of central cities with strong radiation capabilities to drive urban agglomerations, thus improving the layout of tiered cities,” said Guo.

Optimizing the territory by relying on the “three roles”

Guo deems that the optimization of the territory aims at promoting the joint development of neighboring cities with Chengdu and Chongqing taking their leading role.

A city can be positioned as a central regional city, a national central city, or an international central city. Chongqing and Chengdu should promote development and play a leading role according to their positions.

Taking Chongqing as an example, Guo said that the city should play three roles and optimize the territory layout based on them.

Fostering regional central cities to build Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle

Urban agglomerations should be taken as the main form and central cities as the core to develop urbanization space to build the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle

Guo said that, from the perspective of government departments, it is necessary to construct a spatial planning system with the optimization of spatial governance and spatial structure as the main content, in the way of mutual connection and hierarchical management.

The construction of the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle is based on strengthening the radiation and leading role of Chongqing and Chengdu, focusing on cultivating regional central cities, supporting the construction of small and medium-sized cities and principal small towns, and optimizing the urban scale structure.

Building international metropolitan areas to promote high-quality development

How does Chongqing highlight its core functions in the construction of the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle?

Guo believes that Chongqing should give full play to its role as an economic center, a financial center, a commercial logistics center, a scientific and technological innovation center and a shipping center in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, by focusing on building itself into a national central city, strengthening the strategic support for the development and opening up in western China of Chongqing metropolitan area and the primary hub carrier in western China of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

The city also should strengthen its management of urban planning and construction, and enhance its image by controlling the building height according to the mountainous features.

By giving play to the role of Chongqing and Chengdu, the construction of Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle will drive the coordinated development in the whole Chengdu-Chongqing region and even in western China, and promote the reasonable flow and efficient cluster of industries, population, and various production factors, thus promoting the high-quality development.