By Lu Hongyan and Ma Lie in Xi'an (www.cnchemicals.com)
Updated: 2014-04-03 21:57
Compact towns are being built in Shaanxi province to address the problem of increasingly scarce land resources and to implement the idea of urban sustainable development.
One such town is under construction in the Xixian New Area, an urban development area designed in 2012 and which received State Council approval on Jan 6 to be listed as a national-level development area.
Liu Kefeng, director of Liti Town, a compact town with industries and living areas, said the urban area is developing upward, saving land and reducing ecological damage.
By setting a reasonable walking distance, the town can reduce the use of cars and can cut water and energy consumption by 8 percent compared with urban areas.
Liu described the future town. "You will take your child to the kindergarten on the second floor from your house on the 15th floor in the morning and then go up to your company on the 30th floor to work."
"You can go to the roof garden to overlook green scenery when you are tired at work. After work, you can get some fresh vegetables on the way home … on the 20th floor. There are no traffic jams or vehicle pollution and people can enjoy both a convenient urban life and comfortable rural life."
Zheng Siqi, professor at Tsinghua University's Real Estate Institute, said, "Under market laws, urban development should attract more industries or private capital in order to avoid empty towns that have occurred in some cities in China."
Feng Lun, chairman of Vtone Group and founder of Liti Town, said industrial leadership and innovative social management is more important than real estate development.
"We are studying different policies to attract more people we need for Liti Town. We hope that people who live and work there can obtain a more humane service by spending less money."
Work on the project, which has investment of 30 billion yuan ($4.8 billion) from the Vtone Group, started in July. The town is designed for a population of between 70,000 and 120,000 to live and work in.