Urban planning in China

Urban planning in the People's Republic of China is shaped by a top-down approach, focusing on high-density development and extensive urbanization. Over time, the country's planning ideas and methods have changed greatly due to shifts in government and the economy. Since the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, there have been three main stages in how cities are planned, moving away from older Chinese city designs.

Traditionally, Chinese cities like Xi'an and Beijing's Forbidden City were built with special attention to directions and harmony with nature, following ideas like Feng-shui. During the socialist period from 1950 to 1980, cities were designed to support workers with affordable housing and large public spaces. In the hybrid period, which continues today, Western planning ideas mixed with Chinese styles, leading to modern infrastructures in cities such as Shanghai and Tianjin. Today, global cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong are planned to connect China with the world economy, featuring busy centers, strong transportation systems, and many people living close together.

History

Main article: Ancient Chinese urban planning

China shows how old ideas about planning can shape cities and cultures today. Planning in China started long ago, even before early kings ruled. One important idea came from a book called the Artificers' Record during the Western Han dynasty (206 BC–9 AD). It built on even older thoughts from places like geomancy, Feng Shui, and the I Ching. Ancient Chinese planners made cities with straight lines and careful layouts, focusing on directions and balance. Some of the earliest village plans, like those from the Hemudu culture, show organized spaces for homes, work, and storage. The city of Xi'an, built in the 7th century AD, was carefully planned with walls, water paths, and space for many people.

China’s cities grew in different ways over time. In the 1940s, fewer than 10% of people lived in cities. Early leaders focused on building socialist communities, creating work units called danwei that offered homes, jobs, and services. Cities were designed with public spaces and industries, often following ideas from the Soviet Union. Later, China opened up to the world, and cities grew fast. New planning laws helped organize growth, and today, China builds cities that balance people, nature, and the economy.

Planning system

The laws that guide how towns and countryside areas are planned in China include the Urban and Rural Planning Law and other related rules.

Since 1979, different departments have overseen this planning. At the national level, this started with the State Administration of Urban Construction, then changed to the Ministry of Urban-Rural Construction and Environmental Protection, followed by the Ministry of Construction, then the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, and now the Ministry of Natural Resources.

There are different types of plans. The older system included national and provincial urban system planning, city master plans with detailed plans, town master plans with detailed plans, and rural planning for townships and villages. The newer system, started in 2019, brings together urban planning, land-use planning, and other specialized plans into one system called "territorial spatial planning." This system has five levels (national, provincial, municipal, county, and township) and three types of plans (master, detailed, and specialized). Master plans are the most important documents and guide how places are built, including where people can live, work, and play.

In practice, planning in China involves checking and approving several important papers before building can start.

Criticism and reform

Some people think that copying old cities from other places means missing chances to try new ideas for planning cities as they grow very fast in China. One idea is to put all roads underground when building new cities from the start.

A big idea in changing urban planning is to combine many different plans into one. This means putting plans for things like cities and nature into a single plan for a city or area. This helps make sure plans are followed for a long time. These changes were first tried when building Pudong New Area.^: 200