Lanzhou New Area
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Lanzhou New Area () is a state-level new area ( special economic and political administration zone) established in 2012 and is under the direct control of the municipal government of
Lanzhou Lanzhou (, ; ) is the capital and largest city of Gansu Province in Northwest China. Located on the banks of the Yellow River, it is a key regional transportation hub, connecting areas further west by rail to the eastern half of the country. H ...
,
Gansu Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibet ...
province. It is located in the valley around
Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport Lanzhou Zhongchuan International Airport is an airport serving Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu Province, China. It is located northwest of downtown Lanzhou. It was opened in 1970 and serves as a major air hub for the province of Gansu and weste ...
, 30 kilometres from the old city of Lanzhou. It is the first state-level new development area in
northwestern China Northwest China () is a statistical region of China which includes the autonomous regions of Xinjiang and Ningxia and the provinces of Shaanxi, Gansu and Qinghai. It has an area of 3,107,900 km2. The region is characterized by a (semi-)arid con ...
, and the fifth state-level new area in the country.


Background

The establishment of Lanzhou New Area (LNA) is the culmination of multiple strategies both from Chinese Central Government and Gansu Provincial Government. Since
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
launched its Western Development initiative in 2000, several 'Western' Provinces, such as
Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...
,
Guangxi Guangxi (; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the People's Republic ...
, etc. have seen a flurry of investments during the last decade due to the favorable policies those provinces received from China's Central Government. With huge amount of
capital investment Investment is the dedication of money to purchase of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Investment requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money, or effort. In finance, the purpose of investing is ...
issued from State's Financial Department, those provinces developed rapidly with a progressive GDP growth rate, a gradually mature industry structure and an efficient communication system. Though the provinces mentioned above developed quickly, none of those fast developing provinces are actually located in the geographical West of China, although the Chinese Central Government classified them into the 12 Western provinces.
Lanzhou Lanzhou (, ; ) is the capital and largest city of Gansu Province in Northwest China. Located on the banks of the Yellow River, it is a key regional transportation hub, connecting areas further west by rail to the eastern half of the country. H ...
is intended to achieve the ideal of 'common wealth' as outlined by the Communist Party of China through the rapid development of Western provinces. The geographical location of Lanzhou New Area holds significant advantages to its future economic growth.
Lanzhou Lanzhou (, ; ) is the capital and largest city of Gansu Province in Northwest China. Located on the banks of the Yellow River, it is a key regional transportation hub, connecting areas further west by rail to the eastern half of the country. H ...
, 30 kilometres south from the New Area, is the biggest city among two megacities (
Ürümqi Ürümqi ( ; also spelled Ürümchi or without umlauts), formerly known as Dihua (also spelled Tihwa), is the capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the far northwest of the People's Republic of China. Ürümqi developed its ...
and
Xi'an Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by #Name, other names, is the list of capitals in China, capital of Shaanxi, Shaanxi Province. A Sub-provincial division#Sub-provincial municipalities, sub-provincial city o ...
) in this vast region, and is relatively close to two other capital cities, (
Xining Xining (; ), alternatively known as Sining, is the capital of Qinghai province in western China and the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau. The city was a commercial hub along the Northern Silk Road's Hexi Corridor for over 2000 years, and wa ...
of
Qinghai Province Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest pop ...
and
Yinchuan Yinchuan (, ; ) is the capital of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China, and was the capital of the Tangut-led Western Xia dynasty. It has an area of and a total population of 2,859,074 according to the 2020 Chinese census, and its built- ...
of
Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Ningxia (,; , ; alternately romanized as Ninghsia), officially the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (NHAR), is an autonomous region in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. Formerly a province, Ningxia was incorporated into Gansu in 1 ...
). These three capital cities are close enough to form a regional economic conglomeration, and Lanzhou New Area is envisioned as the center of this amalgamation. The development of LNA will boost the development of its adjacent areas. Lanzhou's main urban area is constrained in size by its geographical topography, since it is a typical valley sandwiched by mountains, with the
Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Standard Beijing Mandarin, Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system in the world at th ...
crossing by. The topography of Lanzhou hampers this city to become a continuous megacity like
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
or Xi’an. The
General Office of the State Council General Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China () is an administrative agency of the State Council which assists the leaders with the day to day administrative operations of the Chinese government. It is also known as Stat ...
issued ''the Several Advice about Supporting the Development of Economy and Society of Gansu Province'' in May 2010, especially stating that Lanzhou has to be the impetus of the development of Gansu Province, and even the whole northwestern region. Not long after, on August 3, 2010, the Lanzhou Municipal Government, by the 7th Session of the 11th convention of Lanzhou Municipal Council, announced the strategy of building a new city in Qinwangchuan plain, which now called Lanzhou New Area. Later, the Gansu Provincial Government issued ''the Consulting Advice about Promoting Constructions in Lanzhou New Area'' in order to support the development of LNA. Lanzhou and Gansu province are part of China's strategic platform for opening up to the West, to improve
manufacturing industry Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a rang ...
and economy in the western regions. Within western China, Lanzhou's role as a center of development should be strengthened by Lanzhou New Area.


History and geography

Lanzhou New Area is located in the Qinwangchuan plain, the largest plateau basin near Lanzhou, measuring roughly 40 km from north to south and 16 km from east to west. The area of the plain is and it is elevated between 1800 and 2300 meters. The plain was formed 70 million years ago with the formation of the Himalaya. Around 200 BC, the plain was still humid, but during the
Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
the plain became very arid. Thanks to irrigation and new farming methods, it became a fertile agricultural area again. Until Lanzhou's new Zhongchuan Airport was built in the 1960s, the area remained of little importance. In the 1970s and 1980s, a water diversion project leading water from the
Datong River The Datong River (), known as the Julak Chu in Amdo Tibetan, is a river in China in the Yellow River basin. It has a total length of , and a basin area of . It has an average annual flow of 90.5 cubic meters per second. It was previously spelled T ...
improved the availability of irrigation water in the plain.


Administrative divisions

In 2019, Lanzhou New Area was formally established as a
county-level division The administrative divisions of China have consisted of several levels since ancient times, due to China's large population and geographical area. The constitution of China provides for three levels of government. However in practice, there a ...
of Lanzhou, and given government over three towns that were split off from Yongdeng and Gaolan counties: * Zhongchuan (中川镇) * Qinchuan (秦川镇) * Xicha (西岔镇)


Development

On June 22, 2011, the first press conference was held by the Administration Council of Lanzhou New Area (ACLNA). The ACLNA issued ''the General Planning of Lanzhou New Area (2011-2030)'', confirming the objectives of LNA: Strong Industrial City, Ecological Green City, Multiple Lakes City, Modern New City. The ACLNA aims to achieve a GDP of 50 billion RMB, 100 billion RMB and 270 billion RMB by years 2015, 2020 and 2030 respectively in LNA. The objective rendered the economic and geographical scale of LNA to be equivalent to that of
Lanzhou Lanzhou (, ; ) is the capital and largest city of Gansu Province in Northwest China. Located on the banks of the Yellow River, it is a key regional transportation hub, connecting areas further west by rail to the eastern half of the country. H ...
main city within 20 years. On August 20, 2012 Lanzhou New Area was approved by the
State Council State Council may refer to: Government * State Council of the Republic of Korea, the national cabinet of South Korea, headed by the President * State Council of the People's Republic of China, the national cabinet and chief administrative auth ...
of China's Central Government as the fifth state-level new area. In order to construct the city, 6000 workers and more than 3000 excavators were brought in to flatten hundreds of mountain tops, thereby making land which could be built upon. The area was formerly described as a ghost town, as it still houses far from the anticipated population. In 2017, city officials claimed that LNA has residents plus construction workers, though a journalist from
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
who visited the site suspected that these numbers were "wildly inflated" and asserted that large parts of the city remained vacant. By 2018 the population had reached 250,000 people, which still made the area one of the least densely populated New Areas in China. Originally it was planned for the area to have 600,000 inhabitants by 2020. The actual population by November 2020 was 465,000.


Zones

There are four functional zones: the 246-square-kilometer central development zone environs Zhongchuan International Airport (without airport controlled area) which includes industrial congregation zone, comprehensive service zone and airport tariff-free manufacturing and logistics zone; the 48-square-kilometer ecological leisure and business housing zone; 248-square-kilometer demonstration zone for developing barren wasteland and hills; 220-square-kilometer ecological demonstration zone of modern
agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
.


Smart city

LNA has been designated a
smart city A smart city is a technologically modern urban area that uses different types of electronic methods and sensors to collect specific data. Information gained from that data is used to manage assets, resources and services efficiently; in return ...
since 2017, primarily based on technology supplied by
Huawei Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ( ; ) is a Chinese multinational technology corporation headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. It designs, develops, produces and sells telecommunications equipment, consumer electronics and various smar ...
. Fire fighting, water management, healthcare and municipal administration are managed using 'smart' technology.


Transportation

Communication systems are the core of the development of Lanzhou New Area, owing to the differences with other Chinese new areas. The common model of Chinese new areas can be exemplified as a giant plain area which needs to be expanded. It is a spontaneous urbanization of the old main city area, and short distances between the new areas and their respective main cities are advantageous for the new areas' development. Lanzhou's peculiar
topography Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sci ...
led to Lanzhou New Area being located 30 kilometers away from its main city, and the linkage between the new and the old area is a crucial factor for its development.


Railways

The Lanzhou–Zhongchuan Airport Intercity Railway has an intermediate station for Lanzhou New Area. The Zhongwei–Lanzhou high-speed railway passes along the south part of the New Area. Construction of the
Lanzhou Metro Lanzhou Metro or Lanzhou Rail Transit is a rapid transit system in Lanzhou, Gansu, China. There will be lines in operation at the end of 2022, including Line 1 (, in operation) and Line 2 (, open in 2022). The first two lines will cost about 23 ...
commenced in July 2012, and future lines are planned connecting the New Area to the old city.
Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport Lanzhou Zhongchuan International Airport is an airport serving Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu Province, China. It is located northwest of downtown Lanzhou. It was opened in 1970 and serves as a major air hub for the province of Gansu and weste ...
is being extended to become a giant air hub in the Western region, making it a potential center for international flight and logistics, especially towards Central and Western Asia. A freight railway connects a freight terminal in the north to the Lanxin Railway.


Tram

The construction of several tram lines has been approved by the government. This would be the first tram line in Northwest China. Once finished, the system is planned to have 5 lines. The first two lines were to be finished in 2019. However, as of February 2020, development appears to be put on hold in planning phase, as Tianshui Tram becomes the first tram line to open in Gansu.


Highways

* S1 Lanzhou-Yingpanguan / Lanying Expressway * G1816 Wuhai–Maqên Expressway * Lanqin Expressway


References


External links


Official website
* {{authority control New areas (China) Geography of Lanzhou County-level divisions of Gansu