New members in megacities
What are the mega cities and mega cities in China?
How was the economic development of these cities in the first three quarters of this year?
Not long ago, the National Bureau of Statistics released the "Basic Situation of Population in Super-large and Megacities in the Seventh National Census" based on data from the seventh national census, showing that China's super-large city "clubs" have expanded again to include 7 domestic super-large cities and cities. 14 megacities.
These cities are also remarkable in terms of economic development. Since the beginning of this year, they have handed in eye-catching answers. Among them, the GDP of many urban areas has exceeded 1 trillion yuan.
Super large city club expands again
What kind of cities are considered "mega cities" and "mega cities"?
The National Bureau of Statistics explained that the urban scale of “megacities” and “super-large cities” are classified according to the “Notice of the State Council on Adjusting the Criteria for Urban Size Classification” issued in 2014: cities with a permanent population of more than 5 million and less than 10 million are classified as Megacities and cities with a permanent population of more than 10 million in urban areas are megacities; the urban population of each city is the population at the standard time point of the seventh census (zero o'clock on November 1, 2020).
Previously, according to the "2019 Urban Construction Statistical Yearbook" issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, China has six megacities including Shanghai, Beijing, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Tianjin, and Dongguan, Wuhan, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Zhengzhou, Xi'an, There are 10 megacities including Jinan, Shenyang and Qingdao.
According to the "Seven Census" data, four new members have been added to the "club" of the megacities: Kunming, Changsha, Dalian, Harbin and other four urban areas have a population of over 5 million.
At the same time, Chengdu ranks among the megacities with an urban population of 13.34 million.
In addition, Wuhan ranks 8th on the list of megacities with an urban population of 9.95 million, which is only 50,000 behind the "qualification" of the megacities.
Why do "clubs" in megacities expand repeatedly?
"The phoenix tree attracts the golden phoenix", population migration is an important reason.
In the 10 years from the "Sixth Census" to the "Seventh Census", a large number of young people have poured into super large cities, injecting fresh blood into urban development.
In recent years, in order to attract talented people to work and settle down, cities have launched "grabbing battles", and various attractive settlement policies have been dizzying.
The high-quality development of the regional economy provides more development opportunities for all types of talents.
Not long ago, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the "Outline for the Construction of the Chengdu-Chongqing Twin Cities Economic Circle", which set the tone for the new chapter of Cheng-Chong’s "Tale of Two Cities" and strengthened the confidence of many young people in developing here.
"The ancients said,'You don't need to enter Shu', I think Chengdu is also a city suitable for struggle. Many young people around here come because they like the pace of life and development opportunities here." After graduated from graduate school, he returned to his hometown to develop at the age of 27. Said Chengdu Youth Chai Yun.
"Young people choose this city, and this city will also bring surprises to the young people who choose her." Chai Yun believes that the high-quality development of the Chengdu-Chongqing Shuangcheng Economic Circle will reach a higher level in the future.
In recent years, with the economic and social development of the Chengdu-Chongqing region, the population size and total economic volume of the "Gemini" in the west have continued to rise.
As of the end of October, the number of 67 major projects jointly built by Sichuan and Chongqing with a total investment of 1.57 trillion yuan in 2021 has started 64, with a total investment of 186.68 billion yuan.
This time, Chengdu has entered the ranks of megacities after Chongqing, which is expected by most people.
Shenzhen, Dongguan, "young", Beijing and Shanghai have a high degree of aging
Megacities and megacities are not only a title.
On the one hand, the number of permanent residents in urban areas is an important "threshold" for urban development and construction.
It is understood that, according to relevant regulations, the permanent population of cities and urban areas that currently apply for subway construction should be more than 3 million.
At the same time, in accordance with the regulations of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-rural Development and the Ministry of Emergency Management, cities with a permanent population of less than 3 million in urban areas may not build super high-rise buildings over 250 meters; cities with a permanent population of more than 3 million are not allowed to build super high-rise buildings over 500 meters.
On the other hand, megacities have played an important role in promoting China's economic growth.
Ning Jizhe, Director of the National Bureau of Statistics, previously stated that since the reform and opening up, first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and other megacities have experienced substantial economic growth, a significant increase in population, continuous expansion of opening up, and vigorous development of social undertakings, and they have become China’s economy. An important engine for growth, an important hub for opening up, and an important support for national governance.
The population structure of megacities has a profound impact on the future development of the city and has attracted much attention.
Which cities are the youngest?
"Seven censuses" data show that the proportion of people over 60 in Shenzhen and Dongguan is about 5%, which is significantly lower than that of other megacities.
Which cities have the most "silver-haired people"?
Looking at the proportion of people over the age of 60, the two first-tier cities, Beijing and Shanghai, have a relatively high degree of population aging.
Shanghai’s population over the age of 60 accounted for 23.38%, ranking second among the super-large cities; Beijing’s population over the age of 60 also accounted for nearly 20%.
At the same time, most of the megacities with a population of more than 20% over the age of 60 are located in the north, among which Dalian in the northeastern region ranks first, and the proportion of people over 60 in Harbin and Shenyang is also at a relatively high level.
According to Lu Jiehua, a professor in the Department of Sociology at Peking University, the low fertility rate is the primary factor leading to the deepening of the population aging in megacities.
In addition, the relatively high level of supply of elderly care services in mega-cities has attracted the elderly to settle down with their children, and the outflow of labor force has also led to the deepening of the aging of the population in some mega-cities.
Analysts pointed out that mega-cities have the opportunity to turn population aging into development opportunities.
Among them, first-tier cities need to pay attention to costs and services.
Ning Jizhe introduced that the current first-tier cities have a relatively high level of pension and social security, and the average life expectancy is above 80 years, ranking among the best in all kinds of cities. "What needs to be improved is to control costs and improve services."
"While controlling costs and improving services, we should also pay attention to the imbalance in the supply of elderly care services between different cities." Lu Jiehua said that in first-tier cities and other megacities with higher levels of economic and social development, the level of pensions and the elderly Higher incomes and the influx of young laborers largely offset the impact of population aging. The supply of elderly care services is relatively high and mutual aid is strong.
At the same time, some megacities represented by the Northeast region have less young population inflows, which are "older" and "older faster" compared with the former, and the problem of the incompatibility of the supply level of elderly care services with the aging process of the population is prominent. .
To this end, the allocation of resources for elderly care services among different cities should be promoted to be more balanced.
Optimize and enhance the core competitiveness of mega-cities
Not only attracting the focus of the population, the megacities are also playing an increasingly prominent role in leading regional economic development.
In the first three quarters of this year, the GDP of the seven megacities of Shanghai, Beijing, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, and Chengdu each exceeded 1 trillion yuan.
Among them, Shanghai's GDP was the first to exceed 3 trillion yuan, reaching 3.0866.673 billion yuan.
The GDP of Beijing in the first three quarters was 2975.30 billion yuan.
It is estimated that the annual GDP of the two places is expected to exceed 4 trillion yuan.
In the 14 megacities, most of the GDP in the first three quarters reached over 500 billion yuan. Among them, Changsha, the "new member" of the megacity, had a GDP of 958.698 billion yuan in the first three quarters, which is close to the trillion yuan threshold.
During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, how to improve the spatial layout of urbanization and optimize and enhance the functions of the central urban areas of super large cities?
Ning Jizhe introduced that the relevant planning and deployment have the following main points:
——Promote high-quality and sustainable development of mega-cities.
Including the promotion of the transformation of the development and construction methods of super large cities, strengthening the prevention and control of urban governance risks; promoting the transformation of the urban development mode from scale expansion to enhancement of connotation; steadily improving the level of social security, upgrading the modernization level of urban governance; strengthening the central radiation role of super large cities, Better promote rural revitalization and promote the integrated development of urban and rural areas.
——Reasonably reduce the development intensity and population density of super large cities.
The functions and facilities of the general manufacturing industry, regional logistics bases, professional markets and excessively concentrated public resources in central urban areas shall be resolved in an orderly manner, and risk prevention and control in urban governance shall be strengthened.
——Optimize and enhance the core competitiveness of super-large cities.
Enhance global resource allocation, scientific and technological innovation sources, and high-end industry leading functions, take the lead in forming an industrial structure with modern service industries as the main body and advanced manufacturing as the support, and enhance comprehensive energy levels and international competitiveness.
Lu Jiehua believes: “The power and vitality of the development of mega-cities comes not only from scale expansion, but also from structural optimization and enhancement of content.” He said that in the process of promoting the high-quality and sustainable development of mega-cities, scientific planning is required on the one hand. Urban production, living, and ecological space, optimize the spatial distribution of various facilities and functions, and focus on improving the quality of the population while reasonably reducing population density; on the other hand, it is necessary to provide better quality basic public services, and solidly improve housing and education , Medical, pension and other urban development "basic skills", improve the level of social security and modernization of urban governance, and provide stable guarantees for residents to live and work and live a happy life.
In addition, we must give full play to the agglomeration and radiation role of super-large cities, so that they can better serve the optimization of the spatial pattern of economic development and coordinated regional development, and drive the high-quality development of China's economy.
Wang Wenzheng