In 2011 the Shenyang city government announced a plan to build a Light Rail Transit (LRT) system, in the form of a tramway. The 70-kilometre system with 65 stations was opened in August 2013, in time for the 12th China National Games. Daily ridership is around 150 000. This was the first system of its sort in mainland China, following the development of a modern tramway in Hong Kong. The city government has 51% ownership of the tramway, and 49% by a joint venture including French company the RATP Group, which also operates transport systems in Hong Kong and Nanjing. PLANS
The structure of the public transport system for Shenyang is now in place, and future plans are for extensions. The key focus into the future will be the integration of the transportation system for Shenyang with the seven other cities in the wider city-region.
GREEN ENERGY
Shenyang has a long history of coal-fired electricity generation, but may be regarded as one of the most courageous cities globally in addressing the environmental consequences of this history. In 2014, Shenyang city administration announced plans to shut down 800 coal-fired furnaces, re- placing them with natural gas or electric furnaces. This followed a study which showed that coal accounts for 60% of the PM2.5 pollution levels in the winter months. Many of the spaces made available by these closures are to be turned into public parks. It is expected that this measure will re- duce coal consumption by 1.5 million metric tons, and significantly reduce sulphur dioxide and PM 2.5 pollution. The number of days with blue skies is expected to increase by 49 to 240 by 2017. This initiative was made possible partly by large-scale funding from central government for air-pollution projects, but also represents the strength in Shenyang of its Environmental Protection Bureau. Shenyang is also exporting its growing expertise in green energy. In 2009, for example, a joint ven- ture was announced between the Shenyang Power Group and an American company to develop a 600MW wind farm in West Texas, at a cost of USD 1.5 billion. This is the largest China-USA joint investment in renewable energy in America.
INNOVATION-DRIVEN ECONOMY
Shenyang is a city still burdened by its history as a hub of state-owned heavy industry, and is not one of the leading hubs of innovation in China. The 2thinknow index for 2015 ranked Shenyang only 359th globally, and 21st among cities in China. In 2015, R&D expenditure as a proportion of GDP was 2%, close to China’s average.
These challenges notwithstanding, there is a strong focus nationally and locally on promoting in- novation in Shenyang, with a deliberate strategy to move away systematically from an obsolete economic base to a new economy. The municipality and provincial government are supporting a number of initiatives, including the development of the Shenyang International Software Park and the Shenshui Eco-Technology Innovation City.
Various partnerships are assisting in the development of innovation economies. Some of these in- volve strategic alliances between transnational and Chinese firms, such as the strategic alliance for robot industrial technology innovation between Royal Philips Electronics and Neusoft, a large Chi- nese corporation headquartered in Shenyang. While there is no top-rated university in Shenyang, there are a number of specialist universities (for example, the Shenyang Aerospace University, Shen- yang Pharmaceutical University, and Shenyang Institute of Chemical Technology), which are increas- ingly entering into innovation partnerships with high-end business in the city. There is also a key collaboration between the municipality, IBM, and China’s North-eastern University in a ‘smart city’ initiative. With BMW strongly invested in Shenyang, the relationship with Germany is important in supporting innovation-related initiatives. In 2016, the State Council approved the development of the Sino-German High-End Equipment Manufacturing Industrial Park, to help in the upgrade of Shenyang’s old industrial base to a modern new economy.
In 2016, the central government gave new content to the city cluster initiative when it approved the construction of the Shenyang-Dalian National Innovation Demonstration Zone, which will see the construction of national-level hi-tech industry development zones in both cities, and the establish- ment of supportive linkages between the cities.
Wuhan was the capital of a regional government formed by a left-wing faction of the Kuo- mintang (Chinese nationalists), and the three cities were jointly administered as Wuhan; although they were separated again at the end of the decade, when Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang gained control. After the fall of Nanjing to the Japanese in 1937, Wuhan became the provisional capital of China. But it was soon the site of raging battles between the Chinese nationalists and the Japa- nese, falling to the Japanese in 1938. The Japanese made Wuhan a major logistics centre for their operations, and the city was badly damaged in 1944 when the Americans launched air strikes. In 1949, when the urban region fell under the control of Mao Zedong’s Communist Party, the three cities were reunited again as Wuhan. In 1957, the 1.1-kilometre Yangtze River Bridge was opened at Wuhan, linking China’s previously separate railway systems and reinforcing Wuhan’s position as a transport hub linking in all directions through China. There were eventually to be seven bridges and one tunnel across this great river. In 1967, at the height of the Cultural Revolution, there was civil strife between the People’s Liberation Army and a left-wing faction, leading to the death of nearly a thousand people. In Reform-Era China, a number of development zones were established in Wuhan, beginning with the Donghu New Technology Development Zone (also known as Optics Valley) in 1988. Wuhan has retained its manufacturing base, but is also a major logistics, educational and governance hub. It is more than a provincial core, serving as the primary hub for Central China.
POPULATION
POPULATION SIZE
According to UN data the population of the Wuhan urban agglomeration in 2015 was 7.9 million. Note that this is less than the municipal population of around 10.6 million.
POPULATION RANKING
Wuhan is the 41st-largest urban agglomeration in the world, the 17th-largest in the BRICS, and the seventh-largest in China.
POPULATION GROWTH
In the period 2010 to 2015, the Wuhan urban agglomeration was only growing at 1.01% per an- num, significantly less than its peak growth of around 6.6% per annum in the 1990s.
POPULATION DIVERSITY
According to the 2010 census, 99.1% of the population was Han Chinese, with the largest minorities being Hui (Chinese Muslim) and Tujia.
STRUCTURE OF THE URBAN AGGLOMERATION
The Yangtze River is the dominating physical element in the urban agglomeration, although there is also the Han River and many large lakes around which the city has developed. A quarter of the area of the city is covered by water. The three historical cities were divided from each other by the two rivers.
With the bridging of the Yangtze River in 1957 the old city cores became increasingly intercon- nected, and new development happened concentrically around the historical cores, reinforced by ring-road development connecting across the Yangtze River with new crossings. However, the three centres have each developed their own functions – Wuchang is the educational and administrative centre; Hankou is the commercial centre; and Hanyang is the industrial core. Since around 1990 there has been rapid spatial development. The 1995 Master Plan for Wuhan attempted to structure this growth through the development of seven satellite towns on the growing edge of the city.
WUHAN
武汉
CONTEXT
LOCATION AND STATUS
Wuhan is in the eastern interior of China, at the confluence of the Han and Yangtze Rivers. It is the capital of Hubei Province.
HISTORY
Wuhan has an ancient history, with urban settlement of about 3 500 years. There were three cities that would eventually emerge to form present-day Wuhan – Wuchang, Hankou and Hanyang. Wu- chang was an old provincial capital, while Hankou emerged by the 18th century as one of China’s leading trading towns.
At the end of the 19th century the emerging urban region industrialised, as a far-sighted Governor of Hubei province set up mines (coal and iron) and industries (steel, arsenal and textiles), making Wuhan the birthplace of modern manufacturing in China. The railway was brought to the region, and Wuhan became an important transhipment hub for rail and river traffic. This attracted the attention of Western powers, who demanded mercantile concessions and set up foreign-controlled merchant districts in Hankou.
The urban region played a central role in the turbulence of the early 20th century. The uprising
third-largest steel producer in China. However, steel is a troubled sector, and the city is attempting to reduce its dependence on this industry as WISCO and other producers restructure and downsize. A number of downstream industries emerged from steel production, including equipment man- ufacturing (machine tools, mining equipment, petrochemical machinery, heavy engineering ma- chinery, etc.); shipbuilding; and automobile manufacturing. It is the automobile industry that has emerged as the second-most important after steel-making, accounting for around 20% of Wuhan’s total economic output. Wuhan now has ten automobile plants (including General Motors, Renault, Citroën, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, and Dongfeng) producing around 1.1 mil- lion vehicles annually, making it the world’s seventh-largest automobile-producing hub, and the second-largest in China after Chongqing. The domestic producer Dongfeng has significant joint ventures with Renault, Citroën, Nissan, Honda and Kia. Around the automobile plants is a cluster of component manufacturers.
While traditional industries remain important to Wuhan, the government has been actively sup- porting investment in the hi-tech sector. The development is focused in Wuhan’s three national-lev- el development zones (although there are also around 12 provincial-level zones). These are the Wuhan Economic and Technological Development Zone (known as the Zhuankou Development Zone); the East Lake Hi-Tech Development Zone (known as the ‘Optical Valley of China’); and the Wuhan Wujiashan Economic and Technological Development Zone. Wuhan’s optoelectronic infor- mation industry is world-leading, with Wuhan enjoying a 25% global market share in optical fibre and optical devices. Other growing industries in these zones include biological pharmacy, bio-en- ergy, and other medical devices including laser equipment. The Wuhan BioLake is the third largest bio-industry park in China.
The development of manufacturing is strongly supported by FDI. Wuhan attracts a disproportion- ately large proportion of FDI from France, with the city accounting for around one-third of all French investment in China.
While manufacturing remains the single largest sector, Wuhan is also competitive in terms of trade, financial services and educational services. Many of the large department stores in China have their origins in Wuhan, reflecting the long trading history of this city. The city has also emerged as an important regional financial sector, with more than 400 registered financial institutions. The city is also highly ranked as an educational hub in China.
GOVERNANCE
The urban governance structure for China is explained on the coversheet. Wuhan is a sub-provincial city, with status between that of a prefecture-level city, and cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, which have the status of provinces. In parallel with the formal governance hierarchy, however, the urban governance system has evolved with the concept of the city-region and of clusters of cities, with outcomes that are not certain as yet.
URBAN CHALLENGES
Wuhan is a successful city economically, although it has extremely high levels of public debt (in ex- cess of 220% of municipal revenues), which could threaten sustainability. It also faces the challenges of a fast-growing industrial city.
Air quality is a challenge. In the Greenpeace ranking of China’s cities, which draws information from the official source, Wuhan is the 14th-worst city in China after Beijing, with an annual average PM2.5 level of 88.7. At the confluence of two major rivers, Wuhan also faces severe waterlogging and flooding problems, although it is implementing new measures such as expanding existing lakes to accommodate excess water, and building a deep-level drainage system. There are also severe road-congestion problems, exacerbated at times by flooding.
These towns did not grow as expected; and since 2011, spatial planning for the city has combined the satellite towns into axes extending from the centre along major transport routes. Currently, the planning supports seven new town clusters strongly linked to the centre with private and public transport links. Also, with structural change in the economy, the old industrial areas in the core were replaced by residential real estate, with industry relocating to the urban periphery. The spatial structure is therefore a hybrid of ring-, satellite- and axial-type developments.
Wuhan has been identified as the hub of a city-region known as the 1+8 Wuhan City Circle. Apart from the core city of Wuhan it includes the cities of Huangshi (700 000), Ezhou, Huanggang, Xiao- gan, Xianning (340 000), Xiantao, Tianmen and Qianjiang. The Wuhan City-Region in Hubei Prov- ince in turn forms part of a city-cluster that also includes the Changshan-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan City-Re- gion (Hunan Province), and the Pan Boyang Lake City-Region (Hunan Province, Jiangxi and Anhui Provinces).
ECONOMY
According to the Brookings Institution, the 2014 GDP for Wuhan was USD 231.55 billion (PPP). Wu- han is an important second-ranking city in China. It is the ninth-largest urban economy in China and the largest in mid-China. Among the BRICS cities, it ranks 13th.
Wuhan had a strong pre-existing industrial economy, but with the focus on coastal cities in the early reform period, its development lagged. After 2000, however, Wuhan was a pilot city for reform in central China. Growth accelerated, reaching a peak of 15.8% in 2007; then after a slight dip, rose again to 14.7% in 2010. It has since slowed to 8.8% in 2015 – as a result of broader economic con- ditions, but also of problems in the steel-making and automobile industries. Growth in Wuhan still remains above the national average, and the city has an advantageous mix of manufacturing, trade and financial services.