The expansion of the national metropolitan area again: the northeast "broke 0", whether the situation of strong south and weak north can be changed

Author: Li Xiuzhong

The national metropolitan area has added new members, and the Shenyang metropolitan area has been shortlisted as the first metropolitan area in Northeast China.

Recently, the mayor of Shenyang said on the CCTV program that the Shenyang metropolitan area has been approved, becoming the ninth metropolitan area approved by the state.

Prior to this, the National Development and Reform Commission had announced that there were 7 metropolitan areas approved, which means that there is another metropolitan area that has been approved but not announced, who is the eighth national metropolitan area?

The first national metropolitan area in Tohoku

In 2019, the National Development and Reform Commission issued the Guiding Opinions on Cultivating and Developing Modern Metropolitan Areas, which clearly proposed to cultivate and develop a number of modern metropolitan areas, form new advantages in regional competition, and provide important support for the high-quality development of urban agglomerations and economic transformation and upgrading. By 2035, the modern metropolitan landscape will become more mature, forming several metropolitan areas with global influence.

Since then, the National Development and Reform Commission has approved seven national-level metropolitan areas, including Nanjing, Fuzhou, Chengdu, Changzhutan, Xi'an, Chongqing and Wuhan.

Liang Qidong, vice president of the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, previously told local media in Shenyang that the concept of a central Liaoning urban agglomeration was formed in 2004, and in 2008, Liaoning Province identified it as the "Shenyang Economic Zone". After years of exploration and practice, the urban concentration area in central Liaoning centered on Shenyang has laid the foundation for a modern metropolitan area.

However, as a northeastern city, Shenyang also faces some problems. The low economic aggregate is a shortcoming of Shenyang's economic circle. In 2022, Shenyang's GDP will be 7695.80 billion, ranking second only to Dalian in Northeast China. Among the seven national-level metropolitan areas that have been announced, the GDP of their core cities has exceeded one trillion yuan.

In addition, population loss and declining birth rates are also problems facing the Tohoku region. Although Shenyang is one of the few cities to maintain positive growth in its resident population, in 2022, Shenyang's permanent population was 911.8 million, an increase of 2,9 over the previous year. However, the natural population growth rate of Shenyang in 2022 was -4.85‰, an increase of 2020.3 thousand points from -33.1‰ in 5.

However, Chen Yao, vice president and secretary general of the China Regional Economic Association, told First Finance and Economics that the planning of metropolitan areas is not determined by the total economic aggregate, but more from the perspective of optimal allocation of factor resources. According to the one-hour commuting circle, how to allocate the flow of people and logistics is more efficient, and the economic ties and personnel exchanges between the surrounding areas and the central urban area are closer and more convenient.

Not only that, Chen Yao also said that Shenyang as the central city of the northeast region, strategic position is very important, Shenyang has always been a leader in the northeast region, in the past, Shenyang's economic and urban development is far ahead of other cities, planning Shenyang metropolitan area also has a demonstration role, driving the revitalization of the northeast.

Liang Qidong believes that the urban density, population size and urbanization level of Shenyang's modern metropolitan area of 7 cities and 1 district are very competitive, and it is estimated that the total economic output can reach about a quarter of the entire northeast region. Therefore, accelerating the construction of Shenyang's modern metropolitan area can be said to have a very large driving effect on the entire northeast region.

Moreover, Shenyang regards energy level improvement as a major goal of urban development. The recently released "Shenyang Comprehensive Revitalization New Breakthrough Three-Year Action Plan (2023-2025)" clearly states that in 2023~2025, Shenyang will anchor and accelerate the construction of a national central city, focusing on achieving the goals of "three ones", that is, GDP exceeding 10000,1000 billion yuan, general public budget revenue exceeding 1000 billion yuan, and population size exceeding <> million people.

Can the North-South imbalance be reversed?

After clarifying Shenyang as the ninth national metropolitan area, who the eighth national metropolitan area is, has triggered speculation from all walks of life, among which there is more speculation about the Zhengzhou metropolitan area.

In 2019, Henan Province issued the Implementation Plan for Establishing a More Effective New Mechanism for Regional Coordinated Development, proposing to accelerate the construction of the Zhengzhou metropolitan area, improve the planning system, promote the construction of a one-hour commuter circle rail transit network and intercity highway fast lane, and create a modern metropolitan area with innovative vitality, ecological livability, charm and humanities.

Since then, in the plan, Henan has expanded the scope of the Luoyang metropolitan area from "1+4" to "1+8". According to the land and spatial master plan of Henan Province that has been announced, the Zhengzhou metropolitan area, with Zhengzhou as the leader, includes eight cities: Luoyang, Kaifeng, Xuchang, Xinxiang, Jiaozuo, Pingdingshan, Luohe and Jiyuan.

In addition, this year's work report of the Shandong provincial government proposed to accelerate the coordinated development of the three major economic circles of the provincial capital, Jiaodong and Lunan, and strive for the approval of the development plans of the Jinan and Qingdao metropolitan areas. The "Opinions of the State Council on Supporting Shandong to Deepen the Conversion of Old and New Kinetic Energy and Promote Green, Low-carbon and High-quality Development" issued last year also made it clear that "cultivate and develop modern metropolitan areas in Jinan and Qingdao".

However, Chen Yao said that many cities submitted metropolitan planning approval documents to the NDRC, but some of the planning scope was too large and inconsistent with the NDRC's planning concept for metropolitan areas, and were returned.

In September last year, a spokesperson for the National Development and Reform Commission said that an important feature of the formation of metropolitan areas is the close personnel and economic ties between cities, and the basic scope is a one-hour commuting circle. Judging from the development plans issued by the local government, most of the metropolitan areas are more than 9,1 square kilometers.

The spokesman also said that all localities should adhere to the principle of seeking truth from facts when determining the scope of metropolitan areas, conform to the trend of industrial upgrading, population flow and spatial evolution, achieve intensive and efficient development, and prevent blind expansion of scale.

At present, there are 8 metropolitan areas including Shenyang, mainly concentrated in the southern region. Shenyang is the first state-level metropolitan area in northeast China and the second in northern China after Xi'an. With the addition of new members of the Northern Metropolitan Area, will the North-South imbalance be reversed?

Chen Yao said that in many fields, it shows that the southern economy is more active and the city is more dynamic. For example, among the top ten cities by GDP, there is currently only one northern city, Beijing. The key to boosting the northern economy and curbing the widening gap between the north and the south lies in giving play to the leading role of central cities and metropolises in regional development.

From the perspective of economic aggregate, the distribution area of 24 trillion-level cities with a trillion GDP, the south is far ahead: 18 are located in the south and 6 are located in the north. From the perspective of population size, according to the data of the seventh national census, of the 7 cities in 14 megacities and 21 megacities in the country, only 9 in the north.

Chen Yao said that at present, northern cities not only weaken the driving role of central cities, but also some provincial capitals have a relatively low first degree, and the leading role of central cities in regional economy has weakened, and they have not provoked the beam. The planning and construction of metropolitan areas is conducive to improving the energy level of central cities and leading regional development with the development of central cities.