en.Wedoany.com Reported - China's Xiong'an New Area is exploring a synchronized planning and construction path for "three cities," advancing urban planning and governance reforms simultaneously on the ground, underground, and in the cloud. This model aims to avoid problems associated with the "pancake-style" expansion seen in traditional urban development, including repeated excavation, redundant investment, and the phenomenon of "aerial spider webs." Since its establishment in 2017, the Xiong'an New Area has completed cumulative investments exceeding one trillion yuan. The functions of the startup zone are gradually improving, while the Rongdong, Rongxi, and Xiongdong districts are operating stably. Headquarters of central state-owned enterprises such as China Satellite Network Group, Sinochem Holdings, and China Huaneng Group have moved in for operations, and construction is accelerating for four universities and two hospitals.
At the planning level, the Xiong'an New Area adopts a dynamic growth strategy to adapt to technological and industrial changes. Traditional one-time construction methods often lead to the dilemma of "becoming outdated upon completion." By implementing the "three cities" synchronized planning, Xiong'an uniformly lays pipelines for electricity, communications, and heating in underground utility tunnels, which are inspected by patrol robots, eliminating the "road zipper" phenomenon at its source. Additionally, "strategic reserve zones" have been reserved in the planning to leave space for future technological changes and functional iterations.
In terms of driving mechanisms, the Xiong'an New Area replaces reliance on land finance with innovation-driven development. The area does not pursue land-based fiscal revenue, instead adopting a "land reserve + comprehensive development" model, where commercial land is sold with "attached plans." Currently, over 280 high-tech enterprises have gathered in the Xiong'an New Area Zhongguancun Science Park, focusing on fields such as aerospace information, intelligent connected vehicles, biopharmaceuticals, and artificial intelligence. A representative from an autonomous driving company stated that choosing Xiong'an was not due to tax incentives, but because of the fully open testing roads and a regulatory environment that supports innovation.
In terms of spatial form, the Xiong'an New Area promotes layouts featuring "narrow roads and dense networks," "work-housing balance," and "interwoven blue and green spaces." Newly built districts adopt a "small blocks, dense road network" model to enhance the efficiency of traffic micro-circulation. Taking the Rongdong district as an example, schools, hospitals, parks, and commercial areas are all within a 15-minute walk. A relocated resident said: "Previously, commuting to work in the city took over an hour. Now, walking my child to school and then to my workplace takes only 20 minutes." The startup zone plans for an urban green coverage rate exceeding 50%, with per capita urban park area surpassing 20 square meters.
In terms of governance models, the Xiong'an New Area implements "large departments and flat management," with the number of institutions less than one-third of that in traditional prefecture-level cities. Some districts are piloting a "community partner" mechanism, involving property management, merchants, and social organizations in community governance. Meanwhile, the smart transportation system adjusts traffic signal timing based on real-time vehicle flow, smart government services push matters from "online availability" to "instant fingertip processing," and smart communities use IoT sensing devices to automatically identify and alert on living risks for elderly individuals living alone.
