2007—Some Thoughts and Suggestions on Urban Work (Part 2)
IV. Fourth Priority: Identify the Best Breakthrough for "Visible Change in Three Years, Major Transformation in Five Years." To achieve visible improvement and major transformation of our city's deeply entrenched problems in just three to five years would be unimaginable without identifying the right breakthrough. It should be clearly defined: for the current period, the main battlefield for major improvement and transformation...
This article has been compiled from historical materials in the "Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network" (33519.com · City Overview section). Some administrative divisions, population, socioeconomic data, and policy information may be outdated and are for reference only; for the latest situation, please refer to official releases by the local government and scenic areas.
IV. The fourth urgent task: accurately select the best breakthrough point for "a change in three years and a great transformation in five years."
To make the appearance of our city, burdened with long-standing problems, visibly improve and undergo a great transformation in just three to five years, if the breakthrough point is not accurately selected, then it is undoubtedly unimaginable.
It should be made clear and defined: for the present period, the main battlefield for great improvement and great transformation is the old urban area. While vigorously revising the master plan and compiling various plans, while strictly controlling construction in the new and old urban areas before various plans are issued, and while beginning to renovate and improve urban infrastructure, I believe we should start from these two aspects and choose the best breakthrough point.
(1) One of the best breakthrough points: quickly launch the construction of the "Lishui River Scenic Belt."
Regarding this concept, the Municipal Committee of the China Democratic League conducted research in 2004 and 2005. On behalf of the Municipal Committee of the China Democratic League, I successively wrote the research reports "Planning the City with a Cultural Concept and Building the Urban Area into a Tourism Destination" and "Promptly Compile the Detailed Construction Plan for the Lishui River Scenic Belt and Carefully Build It into Zhangjiajie's 'Bund' and 'Qinhuai River'," and delivered speeches at the plenary session of the Municipal CPPCC. The latter, as the only proposal of the Municipal CPPCC in 2005, was submitted to the municipal party committee and municipal government, and was later written into the municipal government work report and into the city's "Eleventh Five-Year" development plan. Now, the detailed construction plan for the Lishui River Scenic Belt is being compiled.
Its basic viewpoint is: choosing the construction of the Lishui River Scenic Belt as the breakthrough point for urban renovation and upgrading is both a tactical consideration of "injuring ten fingers is not as good as cutting off one" and an objective choice and compliance with the locational and resource advantages possessed by this section. In building the external image of our city, by no means can we ignore Tianmen Mountain and the Lishui River, the soul of the mountains and the spirit of the waters. The Lishui River running through the city connects the new and old urban areas and reflects the majestic posture of Tianmen. The two banks of the Lishui River are not only the necessary route for tourists entering and leaving the airport, railway station, and bus station, but also a gathering and distributing place for residents' leisure. Therefore, taking the construction of the Lishui River Scenic Belt as the entry point and breakthrough point, and as the "dragon-head" project for the city's change in three years and great transformation in five years, thereby creating a bright spot and excitement point for the city's external image, is of great strategic and tactical significance.
There are many successful examples at home and abroad of building riverside scenic belts, such as abroad the Rhine River scenic belt with castles everywhere and abundant charm, and domestically the Qinhuai River scenic belt with antique charm and lamplight and oar shadows, as well as the Suzhou River scenic belt, Guilin's "Two Rivers and Four Lakes" scenic belt, Changsha's Xiang River scenic belt, and so on. Looking at cities under heaven, it is very hard to find a mountain body as majestic and magnificent as Tianmen Mountain in a place close to the urban area. The embankment project under construction can be completed within the year, and the Hongbiyan Dam can store water by the end of the year. This section of the Lishui River running through the city will then become a calm lake with shimmering waves, and the majestic posture of Tianmen Mountain, like a wide screen, will be reflected in the water; if both banks are buildings with local style, plus carefully arranged green belts and street cultural vignettes on both banks, plus several bridges and lake amusement facilities, plus lighting for brightness and beautification, plus the world's longest sightseeing cableway, just think what a wonderful picture it would be! The visual impact it creates, especially the enormous visual impact on tourists entering and leaving the airport, railway station, and bus station, can be imagined. If so, city residents will have a good place for leisure, tourists staying in the urban area will have a good place to go, and this place will naturally become Zhangjiajie's "Bund" and "Qinhuai River"!
Because of the Sydney Opera House, the third-rate city of Sydney suddenly ranked among internationally famous cities; because of a gala performance "Impression Liu Sanjie" created by Zhang Yimou and an increasingly popular West Street, Yangshuo, which once played only the role of a stopover in Guilin tourism, suddenly became filled with hotels, thus ending the history of tourists hurriedly staying for two or three hours and then returning to Guilin; because of the large-scale renovation of "Two Rivers and Four Lakes," Guilin, originally of ordinary urban quality, suddenly became bright and lively, not only greatly improving residents' living environment, but also opening a tourism project themed on night cruises of "Two Rivers and Four Lakes" (each ticket priced at 135–150 yuan). It can thus be seen that as long as the Lishui River Scenic Belt is well built, the image of our city will visibly improve, and the city's quality will immediately rise.
As a "dragon-head project," our scenic belt must not engage in the practice that "all riverside roads under heaven are copied from one another," and must not adopt the simple concept of a "green belt." Instead, it should have the local cultural character emphasized by Mayor Zhao, making it a "cultural scenic belt" that gathers and displays the charm of local ethnic culture. Only in this way can it avoid being identical to other places, and only in this way can it have what Premier Zhu Rongji called "craftsmanship" and what Secretary Chunxian called "characteristics." If the whole city's strength is mobilized, initial scale can be achieved in two or three years. With this one move alone, the city three to five years from now will be incomparable with the present.
Currently, the detailed construction plan for the Lishui Scenic Belt is being compiled. According to what I have learned, the starting point of the first draft is rather low. The Municipal Planning Bureau has also discovered that the problem is serious and has requested the compiling party to involve local experts in the planning, but there has been no response so far. I hope this matter can attract the attention and importance of the city's decision-making level. If a leading project that concerns whether the city can achieve 'visible changes in three years, major transformations in five years' gets stuck first at the planning stage, cannot command a good price, and cannot reach a high standard, would that not be a waste of effort? We have experienced too many lessons in this regard, and I hope no mistakes will occur in the key links of this 'leading' project; otherwise, we will be in a passive position.
Regarding how to build the Lishui River Scenic Belt, I have also thought about and studied it for a fairly long time. Limited by space, I will not go into further detail here. I will contribute my own humble views through other means.
(2) The second best breakthrough point: launch the "putting on clothes and hats" project in the old urban area as soon as possible.
This large area of the old city is currently the main battlefield for achieving a major transformation and complete change in appearance; however, the buildings, large and small, are predominantly tiled "matchboxes," and this area has long been packed to the brim. What is to be done?
Some have proposed tearing everything down and starting over, but this is clearly not feasible. Through "dressing up and putting on a hat"—transforming the "decayed" into the "miraculous" and the "mediocre" into the "distinctive"—it is actually quite practicable. In Xing'an County of Guilin, there is a Lingqu Canal, and the banks were originally lined with nothing but tiled "matchboxes." The county party secretary, a native of Hengyang in our province and trained in horticulture, first gave the "matchboxes" a "dressing up and putting on a hat," and then turned the streets on both banks of the water into a cultural scenic belt. Walking along it, one is overwhelmed by the sights—a feast for the eyes. His practice of transforming the mediocre into the "distinctive" can serve as a reference. Now, Huangshan in Anhui and Wuyuan in Jiangxi, having established Huizhou-style architecture as their main theme, are both embarking on large-scale urban renovation projects. We can certainly learn from others' strengths and carry out "dressing up and putting on a hat" renovations on the buildings of the old city, and give the streets of the old city a cultural packaging.
In his concluding speech at the city work conference, Secretary Hu spoke of "several combinations," namely, "organically combining near-term, mid-term, and long-term goals; organically combining planning, construction, and management; and organically combining institutional, mechanism, and systemic innovation." In my understanding, "management" should include strictly controlling new construction projects in both the new and old urban areas and preventing new mediocre buildings from appearing; "construction" should focus resources on two major projects—the construction of the Lishui River scenic belt and the "dressing up and putting on a hat" renovation project in the old city. If these two major areas are handled well, plus the completion of the new railway station, the completion of the Hongbiyan Dam, the completion of the urban flood dike project, the completion of the airport renovation and upgrading, the completion of several five-star hotels, the completion of the Zhanghua Expressway, and so on, then the established goal of "visible improvement in three years, major transformation in five years" can absolutely be achieved on schedule.
Five, the fifth urgent task: there is an urgent need for overall planning and full-process tracking planning for "visible improvement in three years, major transformation in five years."
We have now entered the era of planning; strategize within the command tent, and planning comes first. Planning is both a science and an art. The essential characteristic of planning is its creativity, shining with the light of wisdom. Its outstanding quality is producing ideas, producing approaches, producing distinctive features, and producing extraordinary, brilliant, and masterful moves. With good planning, one can command the overall situation, operate from a commanding height, devise original ideas, and emerge victorious.
In response to the major strategic and campaign action of "visible improvement in three years, major transformation in five years," it is suggested that the municipal party committee and municipal government form a planning team, composed of local experts and outside experts who truly possess genuine insight, with particular attention to examining their understanding and awareness of the spirit of the important speeches by Secretary Chunxian and Governor Zhou Qiang on Zhangjiajie's urban construction. This planning team should carry out overall planning and full-process tracking planning for "visible improvement in three years, major transformation in five years," and serve as a "think tank" in this field, offering suggestions and advice to you and to the municipal party committee and municipal government, and serving as good advisors.
There are countless examples of projects with low starting points, low quality, and even mistakes and failures caused by the absence of a planning phase. Take planning and design as an example: these industries have mostly still followed traditional concepts and methods to this day, so what they plan and design is mostly "drawing a gourd from a ladle"—having only flesh and bones but lacking a soul, having only technique but lacking culture, and thus capable only of producing mediocre works devoid of distinctive character. The master plan revision previously undertaken by Tsinghua University was like this, and the construction detailed plan for the Lishui River scenic belt currently undertaken by the Provincial Urban Planning and Design Research Institute is probably much the same.
In view of this, it is suggested to introduce the concept of planning first, and try adopting an operational model of "planning—approval of the planning text through review—preparation of an implementation plan or planning and design based on the planning text." A planning body should first carry out overall planning for "visible improvement in three years, major transformation in five years," from concept to specific content, from the macro level to the operational level. After the overall planning scheme is approved through review, forces should then be organized to prepare an implementation plan based on the planning text. During implementation, the planning team should first conduct planning for each specific item; after the planning scheme is approved through review, planning and design or an implementation plan should then be prepared accordingly. Adding such "one link" will effectively prevent passivity and blindness and greatly reduce mistakes and failures. Using this method to attract talent, pool wisdom, and promote the scientificization of decision-making and the optimization of implementation methods through democratic decision-making truly has many benefits. Do we not often say we must advance with the times and innovate? In my humble opinion, this is advancing with the times in governance philosophy and an innovation in governance methods.
If the municipal party committee and municipal government can adopt this suggestion, then although I am untalented, I am willing to contribute my efforts to this end!
Around this year's "Two Sessions," I separately offered suggestions to Secretary Liwei, Secretary Bojun, and Vice Mayor Zuoyi on matters such as that urban work must be a single coordinated game and that the revision of the city's "Master Plan" must adhere to planning before design. Therefore, there is no need to repeat them here. As Secretary Hu said: Zhangjiajie's greatest mistake has been in the city, its greatest difficulty is in the city, and its most important work is also in the city. Now, this heavy burden has historically fallen on your shoulders. Secretary Chunxian and Governor Zhou Qiang are eagerly watching you, and the people of the whole city are eagerly watching you! I sincerely hope that the municipal party committee and municipal government, in accordance with the strategic deployment determined by the Fifth Municipal Party Congress, firmly seize the tremendous opportunity of the provincial party committee and provincial government attaching great importance to Zhangjiajie's urban construction, mobilize the strength of the whole city, build the central city, and achieve on schedule the glorious goal of "visible improvement in three years, major transformation in five years."
If so, then Zhangjiajie is most fortunate, and the people of Zhangjiajie are most fortunate!