More than half of the large amount of land occupied by urban expansion is arable land

Dong Zuoji, Director of the Planning Department of the Ministry of Land and Resources, said today that over the years, urban outward expansion has indeed occupied a large amount of land. China's national condition is that there is not much arable land, and most of the areas where cities are located are plain regions, so more than half of the large amount of land occupied by urban expansion is arable land.

The National Development and Reform Commission held a press conference today to provide an in-depth interpretation of the "Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Accelerating the Construction of Ecological Civilization." Responsible officials from the Development and Reform Commission as well as the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Ministry of Land and Resources, and the State Forestry Administration attended the press conference and answered questions from reporters.

Dong Zuoji pointed out that the delineation of urban development boundaries was first proposed at the Central Urbanization Work Conference. This time, the "Opinions on Accelerating the Construction of Ecological Civilization" once again put forward clear requirements. The delineation of urban development boundaries has at least threefold significance:

First, it promotes urban transformation and development and improves the quality of urbanization. For some time, urbanization has accelerated, but the quality of urbanization has not been high. An important reason here is the inefficient outward expansion of city scale and urban construction, and the lack of pressure ultimately led to insufficient momentum for transformation and development. Once urban development boundaries are clearly defined, they will become a new driving force for the transformation and development of urbanization.

Second, this approach is conducive to economizing land use and protecting arable land, and is an important measure for implementing the strictest land economization system and the strictest arable land protection system. Over the years, urban outward expansion has indeed occupied a large amount of land. China's national condition is that there is not much arable land, and most of the areas where cities are located are plain regions, so more than half of the large amount of land occupied by urban expansion is arable land. To safeguard national food security and protect arable land, construction land must first be controlled. However, infrastructure still needs to be guaranteed, so the focus should still be on controlling the scale expansion of urban construction land. In this way, intensive and economical land use is promoted, and arable land protection is promoted.

Third, by delineating urban development boundaries, we can preserve as much as possible the natural baseline of mountains, waters, and natural ecology, and place cities within nature. This is of great significance for improving the urban ecological environment and for ecological civilization construction.

Dong Zuoji stated that in July last year, the Ministry of Land and Resources, together with the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, selected 14 of the largest cities, including first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, for the first phase of trials. After nearly a year of work, some principles have now been clarified, some methods have also been determined, and preliminary results have been achieved. Several points are experience to be promoted in the next step of work: First, base it on the carrying capacity of resources and the environment. It is necessary to evaluate the resource and environmental carrying capacity of the region, see what the upper limit for suitable construction is, where it is unsuitable, and how much. Second, adhere to giving priority to economizing. At present, urban land use is relatively extensive, and even if there is potential, boundaries must be delineated tightly. Third, adhere to giving priority to protection. If high-quality arable land in the region is relatively concentrated and important ecological function areas are concentrated there, the urban boundaries in that region should be delineated more strictly. Fourth, optimize the spatial development pattern of cities. In addition to being strict, it must also be scientific, and promote the scientific development of cities through the scientific delineation of boundaries. Fifth, do a good job of linking up with existing plans.

Dong Zuoji stated that the Ministry of Land and Resources is cooperating with the Ministry of Agriculture to pick out all arable land on the urban fringe and then evaluate it. If the quality is indeed very good, efforts should be made to retain this arable land and develop by jumping outward, with satellite cities and cluster-style development. Of course, this also needs to be done in accordance with the law. If it involves adjusting the original plan, it must be handled according to legal procedures. At present, the delineation of development boundaries for 14 cities has achieved preliminary results. In the next step, on the basis of carefully summarizing experience, it should be expanded, striving to eventually delineate development boundaries for all more than 600 cities across the country and manage them strictly.