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Hangzhou: Raising the Urban Competitiveness with New Socio-Economic Strategies and Spatial Roles

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Development and Planning in Seven Major Coastal Cities in Southern and Eastern China

Part of the book series: GeoJournal Library ((GEJL,volume 120))

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Abstract

The chapter uses a perspective that urban competitiveness is more than economic performance and economic-related indicators. Social development level and environmental quality, as well as regional development should also be considered. Hangzhou is not the strongest economic engine in YRD but it has high competitiveness in general. The chapter examines Hangzhou’s new socio-economic strategies and the new spatial roles at local and regional levels and how their implementation can raise its urban competitiveness. The analysis finds that regional inequality and imbalance are key barriers of enhancing the competitiveness although the city has solid economic and environmental bases. The recent strategic plans of Hangzhou strive for better integration and division of labour between old districts (CBD), sub-urban districts and counties to enhance urban and economic development. As the leading city of one of the two wings of YRD, Hangzhou, through these plans, aims to build a metropolitan by working with Shanghai, surrounding cities and the YRD region at different spatial levels. To better implement strategic plans and realize the goals, the chapter suggests that Hangzhou needs to adopt more innovative approaches, emphasize uniqueness, and balance and integrate economic, culture, society, environment and technology in formulating policies and projects.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For details of all these competitiveness studies, please visit the respective websites. Heritage Foundation—Index of Economic Freedom: http://www.heritage.org/index/. IMD—World Competitiveness Index: http://www.imd.org/research/publications/wcy/index.cfm. WEF—Global Competitiveness Index: http://www.weforum.org/issues/global-competitiveness. Z/Yen Group—Global Financial Centres Index: http://www.zyen.com/research/gfci.html. MasterCard—Worldwide Centers of Commerce Index: http://www.mastercard.com/us/company/en/insights/pdfs/2008/MCWW_WCoC-Report_2008.pdf. GaWC: http://www.lboro.ac.uk/gawc/.

  2. 2.

    In February 2015, Fuyang district was officially established and replaced the former Fuyang county-level city. It is the ninth district of Hangzhou.

  3. 3.

    See footnote 2.

  4. 4.

    For example, Hangzhou was ranked only after Shenzhen among all vice-provincial cities in China in terms of the number of patents granted (5559) in 2014 (State Intellectual Property Office 2015b); Zhejiang University was ranked top among all Chinese universities in terms of the number of patent granted (1413) in 2014 (State Intellectual Property Office 2015a).

  5. 5.

    The gap of GDP between Hangzhou and Suzhou was never more than RMB 1.3 billion in the period of 1978–1991. As the gap had been enlarged, the GDP of Hangzhou was RMB 467.22 billion lower than that of Suzhou in 2013 (Fig. 6.4; Hangzhou Municipal Statistics Bureau 2014; Suzhou Municipal Statistical Bureau 2014).

  6. 6.

    See http://www.hangzhou.com.cn/hzcspp/index.htm.

  7. 7.

    This principle in Chinese is bao zengzhang, kuo neixu, tiao jiegou.

  8. 8.

    The urban development strategy in Chinese is chengshi dongkuo, lüyou xijin, yanjing kaifa, kuajing fazhan. One core means the CBD and old urban district of Hangzhou, three sub-centres are Jiangnan, Linping, and Xiasha, and six clusters are Yuhang, Liangzhu, Tangqi, Yipeng, Guali, and Linpu.

  9. 9.

    Hangzhou CBD and Qianjiang Century CBD in Chinese are Qianjiang new town and Qianjiang Shiji Cheng respectively. For details of development, please visit websites http://www.hzcbd.com and http://www.qjcbd.com respectively.

  10. 10.

    The Hangzhou metropolitan circle in Chinese is Hangzhou dushi jingjiquan.

  11. 11.

    For details, please see http://www.hzyxxh.com/.

  12. 12.

    For details, please see http://www.cicaf.com.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography and Resource Management, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong

    Jianfa Shen

  2. Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong

    Gordon Kee

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  1. Jianfa Shen
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  2. Gordon Kee
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Correspondence to Jianfa Shen .

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Shen, J., Kee, G. (2017). Hangzhou: Raising the Urban Competitiveness with New Socio-Economic Strategies and Spatial Roles. In: Development and Planning in Seven Major Coastal Cities in Southern and Eastern China. GeoJournal Library, vol 120. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46421-3_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46421-3_6

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