Lanzhou New Area


Lanzhou New Area is a state-level new area established in 2012 and is under the direct control of the municipal government of Lanzhou, Gansu province. It is located in the valley around Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport, 30 kilometres from the old city of Lanzhou. It is the first state-level new development area in northwestern China, and the fifth state-level new area in the country.

Background

The establishment of Lanzhou New Area is the culmination of multiple strategies both from Chinese Central Government and Gansu Provincial Government. Since China launched its Western Development initiative in 2000, several 'Western' Provinces, such as Shanxi, Guangxi, 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 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 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, 30 kilometres south from the New Area, is the biggest city among two megacities in this vast region, and is relatively close to two other capital cities,. 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 area is constrained by its geographical topography, since it is a typical valley which can be described as sandwiched by two mountains, with the Yellow River crossing by. The topography of Lanzhou hampers this city to become a megacity like Beijing or Xi’an. The General Office of the State Council 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, Lanzhou Municipal Government, by the 7th Session of the 11th convention of Lanzhou Municipal Council, announced the strategy of building a new city in Qinwang Flat Plain which now called Lanzhou New Area, then, Gansu Provincial Government issued the Consulting Advice about Promoting Constructions in Lanzhou New Area in order to support the development of LNA.
On August 20, 2012 Lanzhou New Area was approved by the State Council 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.

Blueprint

General Objectives
On June 22, 2011, the first press conference was held by the Administration Council of Lanzhou New Area. The ACLNA issued the General Planning of Lanzhou New Area , 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 renders the economic and geographical scale of LNA to be equivalent to that of Lanzhou main city within 20 years.

Specific Objectives

Function Orientation

From the perspective of China: strategic platform for opening up to the West ; forerunning zone for nation's economic upgrade and for taking up the eastern or central China's equipment manufacturing industry
From the perspective of the Western region: crucial zone for developing strategic burgeoning industry, high-tech industry and cyclical economy; essential communication and logistics center for linking the whole West of China; key demonstration zone for “two type” society and urbanization; developing experimental zone for ecological construction and comprehensive development of intact land area.
From the perspective of Gansu: the expanding zone for traditional advantageous industry and modern service industry; the predominant communication and logistics hub of the whole province; the Growth Pole for accomplishing leaping development of Gansu province.

Development Scale (Geographical and Demographic Scale)

Controlled area by 2030: 806 square kilometers.
Population: 0.6 million by 2020 and 1 million by 2030.

Functional and Structural Zone

There are four functional zones: the 246-square-kilometer central development zone environs Zhongchuan International Airport 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.

Development

The area has been described as a ghost town, as it still houses far less than the anticipated population number of 1 million people. As of 2017, city officials insist that LNA has residents plus construction workers, though a journalist from The Guardian 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 Area's in China.

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 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 commenced in July 2012, and future lines are planned connecting the New Area to the old city. Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport 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