Town-to-city conversion requires accelerated reform of supporting systems

Recently, 11 ministries and commissions including the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Land and Resources, and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development jointly issued a notice on comprehensive pilot projects for new-type urbanization, requiring each province to select eligible cities and towns at different levels as pilot projects to report to the NDRC, especially for organic towns with a population of over 100,000, to carry out pilot projects for a new model of city establishment. This will also become a key focus for advancing new-type urbanization in the near and medium term.

Compared with the previous practice of abolishing several relatively large townships and merging them into districts, this proposal for pilot city establishment in organic towns with a population of over 100,000 is not only a change in name, but also a change in approach, reflecting the "new-type" meaning of urbanization construction. Establishing cities for those organic towns whose population, fiscal revenue, industrial scale, and urban appearance have already become urbanized will not only help "town-level cities" avoid a potential "hollowing-out" crisis and achieve sustainable development, but also provide ample space for the healthy transformation of large and medium-sized cities, and provide the most realistic path for eliminating the urban-rural gap. It deserves a "like."

However, the establishment of "town-level cities" is by no means as simple as a town head becoming a mayor and farmers becoming urban residents, because after city establishment, the standards of systems such as the land system, household registration system, fiscal and tax system, public service system, and institutional system will naturally change from "town" standards to "city" standards. If only the name is changed without changing the "medicine," the further development of "town-level cities" will still be constrained by the town-level administrative system, and will still be "heavy in responsibility and numerous in tasks," "small in power and short in money," and "weak in functions." Public services for residents will still be difficult to satisfy locally, grassroots conflicts will still be difficult to resolve locally, and the radiating and driving role of "town-level cities" will still be limited.

The positive role of establishing "town-level cities" in China's urbanization process is self-evident. First, the establishment of "town-level cities" is conducive to truly forming urban agglomerations with complementary functions, can effectively ease the pressure on large and medium-sized cities, and gradually move away from "big city disease." Second, with the establishment of "town-level cities," the investment environment of townships will receive unprecedented optimization and upgrading, which can promote more balanced development of China's economy. Third, with the establishment of "town-level cities," people can complete the urbanization of their living standards and lifestyles nearby, which is conducive to solving difficulties such as housing and social security in the urbanization process.

Of course, for "town-level cities" to truly become cities, it means a series of changes in systems and mechanisms such as household registration management, administrative justice, land elements, fiscal and tax distribution, project approval, investment scale, and urban construction. The administrative authority, fiscal authority, and personnel authority of "town-level cities" will all correspond to the needs of urban public services and effective management. In the past, before "town-level cities" had legitimate status, localities basically adopted "expanding power in strong towns" or "upgrading strong towns." Now, the pilot "town-to-city conversion" will inevitably bring about a reorganization of the distribution pattern of power among governments at different levels.

"Town-level cities" are an action in line with the trend and may become a breakthrough in new-type urbanization construction, but we must make "town-level cities" truly worthy of the name. It is hoped that under the guarantee of supporting systems, this round of "town-to-city conversion" can truly, on the basis of "flattening," grant towns more authority for urban construction and management, and also grant them greater responsibility, effectively improve government service functions and administrative efficiency, and make residents' lives happier.