As the first city in China to cancel GDP assessment, Quzhou has built a "big garden" out of the City based on the concept of "lucid waters and lush mountains" and promoted mechanism innovation with the "maximum one visit" reform. Quzhou focuses on the development positioning of a modern garden city, an ecological barrier in Zhejiang, and a beautiful and happy home, promotes construction through creation, and builds an international model city for sustainable development. Quzhou, together with Yan'an, Shaanxi and Yantian, Shenzhen, stood out from the first batch of SUC pilot applicants and was included in the first batch of "SUC International Demonstration Cities for Sustainable Development", which was officially announced at the “9th World Urban Forum” hosted by UN-Habitat on February 11, 2018.
But an unavoidable reality is that Quzhou’s economic aggregate is relatively small and its industrial structure is relatively heavy. 60% of the City’s total industrial economy comes from the three traditional industries of heavy chemicals, metal products and building materials of cement. There is a long way to go to transform the "Two Mountains"; there is a lack of open innovation capabilities; greater efforts are needed to shift from old driving forces to new ones. There is insufficient integration among industry, city, people and culture; there is the large inadequacy of urban functional facilities; the energy level of the central City is not high with a lack of the radiating and driving capabilities; the level of urbanization needs to be improved.
How does Quzhou promote sustainable construction? The Fifth Plenary Session of the 13th Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee made a major strategic plan to "build a beautiful Zhejiang and create a bright life" and clearly stated that "Quzhou should become an important ecological barrier for a beautiful Zhejiang, focusing on achieving remarkable results in ecological and environmental protection and ecological economic development." This scientific positioning fully demonstrates Quzhou's special status and important role in the construction of "Beautiful & Bright" Zhejiang.
1. Drive development with innovation and achieve green rise. Vigorously develop green industries and ecological economy, and accelerate industrial transformation, agricultural transformation, service transformation and urban transformation.
2. Improve the living environment and polish the “green business card”. Quzhou polishes its green business card in all aspects, plans and builds the entire City as a large scenic spot, promotes urban attractions, suburban pastoralization, small town characteristics and rural leisure, comprehensively improves the quality of urban development, and accelerates the construction of a modern garden city with Quzhou characteristics.
3. Open large channels and build a three-dimensional transportation network. Adhere to the priority of transportation, accelerate the construction of a modern comprehensive transportation system with external connections and internal smoothness, comprehensively open up the channels for the transformation of the "Two Mountains", consumers to the Big Garden and the "Greater Bay Area" to the Big Garden, promote Quzhou's integration into the Hangzhou metropolitan area, and realize the integration of Hangzhou and Quzhou.
4. Focus on eco-tourism and provide Quzhou characteristic “products”. Explore the ecological characteristics of Quzhou, create a number of world-class high-end tourism products, and at the same time scale up the characteristic industries so that more people want to come, frequent and stay.
5. Implement the highest ecological standards and promote the construction of ecological functional zones across the region. Strictly implement zoning control measures to create an ecological benchmark that leads the country. The total population, construction land, construction style, building height, and total number of residences are strictly limited in ecological space; farmers in mountainous reservoir areas and ecologically sensitive areas are guided and encouraged to gather in the City and towns; a batch of ecological "no man's land" is planned for construction. Strengthen the control and style guidance of farmers' house construction, and create a beautiful rural landscape where people, nature and architecture coexist harmoniously.
6. Adhere to open development, actively promote provincial collaboration, take the initiative in integrating into the “Belt and Road”, deepen external and internal collaboration, make good use of both external and internal resources, and build a regional collaboration pattern.
7. Improve the carrying capacity of infrastructure and public service facilities, and expand new development space, striving to facilitate people's lives.
Quzhou will closely focus on the goal of "creating an ecological barrier and building a happy Quzhou", firmly grasp the central task of "promoting transformation and upgrading through ecological civilization construction", insist on giving priority to ecology, focusing on transformation, and putting people's living needs first, strive to build a beautiful and comfortable ecological and environmental system, a high-quality and efficient modern industrial system, and a fair and equal system of meeting people's living needs, promote the continuous enhancement of the whole City's comprehensive economic strength and the continuous improvement of the people's quality of life, make the people of Quzhou more satisfied with their income, more comfortable with living, more relieved with safety and happier with life, endeavour to create an important ecological barrier for a beautiful Zhejiang and build a happy model city for sustainable development with Quzhou characteristics that satisfies the people.