In the world-class group city circle, we are familiar with Greater new york, Great Lakes, Chicago and Greater Los Angeles. Greater Tokyo, Hanshin and Nagoya in Japan; London urban agglomeration in Britain; Seoul, South Korea; German Ruhr; Paris, France, etc. These areas have become the economic growth pole of a country, the material pillar of these countries and even the spiritual pillar of development. The GDP of the three major urban agglomerations in the United States accounts for 67% of the whole United States, and that of the three major urban agglomerations in Japan accounts for 70% of the whole of Japan. The GDP of China's three major urban agglomerations (Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei) also accounts for 39% of the national share. However, this is only the beginning. With the rise of China's comprehensive national strength and the acceleration of urbanization, China's future urban development will certainly extend to urban agglomerations and urban economic zones, and become a strategic platform for the country's new round of wealth gathering. Therefore, the division of labor and cooperation between urban agglomerations in the Pearl River Delta is not only the general trend, but also the "wish" of most urban civilians in the region.
The outbreak of the financial crisis has made countries feel nervous, and major cities are also shaking in the wind and rain. Dongguan in the Pearl River Delta is a typical example. This once coquettish star city has been "degraded" by all parties into an "unsolvable quintic equation". Dongguan is just a microcosm. The nine cities in the Pearl River Delta have become interdependent. How to face this once-in-a-century crisis, how to face it? Of course, inter-city cooperation is a dream for many years, not overnight, but it is more meaningful to launch it under such a general trend.
The crisis has spread further in the western world, and the evil of the "magic capital" Wall Street has intensified, and the haze has also risen in the eastern world. How should the Pearl River Delta, an important economic town in China, use the outline to resist risks? We can't just build a car behind closed doors or take it for granted. We should learn from the experience of major metropolitan areas in the world and cooperate with the contents of the outline. The Pearl River Delta can further clarify its thinking, gather together for warmth, and become a new global city group in the world map.
One of the revelations-cities must unite.
One of the most famous urban agglomerations in the world, 50 leaders from the five great lakes in North America (Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario) gather together for the "Sword in the Lake" every year. This "Five Lakes Alliance" must spend two days discussing and exchanging the interests of the five major factions, and then distributing their respective interests after reaching an agreement.
The "Five Lakes Alliance" is not without conflicts of interest. There are many reasons for them to unite: vicious competition eventually cost them everything; Modern industrial pollution and climate change pose a threat to water resources in the Great Lakes region. Urban competition from all over the world is like the sword of Damocles hanging high. In 2002, Chicago Mayor Daley led the establishment of the "Five Lakes Alliance" (Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Project), calling on mayors of all districts to participate, exchange information and promote cooperation, so that the US and Canadian governments can hear stronger voices from local governments in the Great Lakes region, thus maximizing their own interests.
After nearly six years of development, the "Five Lakes Alliance" has grown into a cross-border city organization, with nearly 50 cities in the United States and Canada as full members, including Chicago, Toronto, Quebec and Montreal. As an important economic center of the United States, the voice of the "Five Lakes Alliance" is as loud as that of the new york Economic Circle. Whether it is a metropolis or a small city, working together to meet the challenges of the future will make you stronger.
Compared with world-class urban agglomerations, the gap in the Pearl River Delta is not only reflected in the total GDP, but more importantly, in the degree of integration. The city did not show the power of alliance, nor did it speak with one voice. This gap restricts the rapid economic development in this region. World-class urban agglomerations are highly integrated regions. The combination of cities makes the division of labor more compact and meticulous, and minimizes important construction. It is precisely because of the combination that the New York metropolitan area has a perfect industrial division of labor. The ultimate goal of the rise of the Tokyo metropolitan area is integration, and the "Five Lakes Alliance" in the United States has also opened up two veins for the weak.
On the other hand, in the Pearl River Delta, there are many problems in integrated development, such as industrial isomorphism, market segmentation, inefficient repeated infrastructure construction, disorderly competition and so on. After years of accumulation, China's "hardware" construction has approached or even surpassed the advanced level in the world, which can be seen from the comparison between Shenzhen and Hong Kong. The advantage of backwardness makes Shenzhen more modern and flamboyant. "The other mountains are dwarfed under the sky." It is not a good thing to feel that the regional development level of individual cities is high, and the "island effect" reflects the imbalance of development. In addition to hardware, the combination of "software" construction is more important. Different cities have different economic ideas and related systems, concepts, systems and policies in the process of development. Everyone has their own way. These "softwares" have caused the same internal innovation among cities as "Seven Injuries Boxing", which has restricted the function of hardware facilities, thus affecting the rapid development of regional economy.
The New York Metropolitan Area, the first of the five metropolitan areas in the world, starts from Maine in the north and reaches Virginia in the south, spanning 10 states, including five big cities, including Boston, new york, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, and 40 small and medium-sized cities with a population of over 65,438+10,000. Without joint development, how can we form the most complete and orderly metropolitan area in the world, and how can this happen in new york?
It is also the London metropolitan area, with a total area of about 45,000 square kilometers and a population of 36.5 million. It takes London-Liverpool as the axis and includes several big cities such as London, Birmingham, Sheffield, Manchester and Liverpool, as well as many small and medium-sized towns. The combination of these cities has promoted the status of this old capitalist country. Otherwise, Britain will become a second-rate power.
The negative example is the Yangtze River Delta. From decision-making to construction, Yangshan Port in Shanghai was once full of difficulties because it involved the property rights of Zhejiang and the positioning of Ningbo Port. Communication between the two sides has also been poor, and many things have to be coordinated by the Ministry of Communications and even the State Council, which has seriously affected efficiency. Another example is the problem of cyanobacteria in the Yangtze River Delta. The outbreak of cyanobacteria in Taihu Lake affects the drinking water safety of coastal cities. However, if we can work together in the process of pollution control, and the towns at all levels in the lake can fully cooperate to build a crisis assessment system and design solutions to deal with river pollution without administrative barriers, then the Yangtze River Delta will not be threatened by small cyanobacteria.
The same example is the governance of the Pearl River. The management of the Pearl River is not only a matter for Guangzhou, but also a matter for the upper reaches of the Pearl River Basin. Why is it so difficult to manage a river? Because "everyone cleans their own snow". Modern cities in China are strictly subordinate to administrative divisions, and the first significance of urban agglomeration development is to break through administrative divisions, organically connect cities together, and exert the synergistic effect of 2+7 > 9. The contradiction between them is one of the fundamental problems that plague the construction of urban agglomerations in the Pearl River Delta. "Nine birds in the sky" is awesome because it is a unity, while the Pearl River Delta always fights in groups because it is a mess.
To develop into a world-class urban agglomeration with international competitiveness, the Pearl River Delta can only be solved through joint efforts, and only in this way can the dream of a world-class urban agglomeration in the Pearl River Delta be realized. The era of "individual heroism" has passed, "Shenzhen" can't dance solo like that, and "Guangzhou" is not as beautiful as it was in the 1990s. Tomorrow's development is the development of urban agglomerations, not the solo flight of any city. The development of the Pearl River Delta must be coordinated according to urban agglomeration rather than urban positioning. Things have changed, times have changed. If we remain in the era of "individual heroism" in the early days of reform and opening up, Foshan and Dongguan will fall further behind, while Shenzhen's pioneering attitude will be replaced by other cities, and Guangzhou can only return to a state of local security.
Objectively speaking, every city has this intention of "joint development", but some cities with relatively high development level are still playing their own tricks, for fear that other cities will take advantage of it. It is a short-sighted phenomenon that Shenzhen and Guangzhou compete for the leader of the Pearl River Delta. If France and Germany fall into the dispute of European leaders, the EU will exist in name only. Where is the unification of the euro? If the ten ASEAN countries don't develop together, how can these small countries in Southeast Asia? If the nine cities in the Pearl River Delta continue this stalemate, the present strength will become the future weakness, and the present progress will hinder their own development.
The "Outline" has recognized this problem, and the seventh chapter talks about "promoting coordinated regional development". Wang Shuai said, "The interests of EU countries involve complicated factors such as currency, and they can still be well coordinated. As several cities in a province, it is impossible to coordinate badly. " I hope all the nine cities in the Pearl River Delta can realize that the era of single-handedness has passed, and the United front and joint operations are the last word.
Revelation II-Building a "Golden Corridor" between Cities
For the common development of city circle, transportation is the primary problem, and the rest, such as housing, environment and industrial structure, have their own emphasis according to their respective conditions. Any world-class city circle must have its own "golden corridor", and the time from the center to the edge cannot exceed 1.5 hours, otherwise it cannot be called a real city circle.
The density and length of rail transit in Tokyo metropolitan area rank first in the world. Its main rail transit vehicles include JR line (that is, city Shinkansen), subway, light rail and so on. Others include overhead trams, monorail trams and unmanned Yurikamome. Thirty rail transit companies operate more than 2,000 kilometers of railway lines in this area, forming a huge rail transit network. The number of people traveling by rail transit every day accounts for 43% of the total number of people traveling by rail transit every day, and the number of people traveling by rail transit every day accounts for 86% of the total number. During the morning rush hour, as many as 965,438+0% commuters take rail transit to enter the central area of Tokyo. It is this high-density traffic trunk line that makes Tokyo not only the commercial center of kanto region, but also the third largest financial center in the world.
The Ruhr area in Germany is an important industrial area in the world, which is located in the west of Germany, between the Ruhr River and the downstream branch of the Rhine River. It covers an area of 4,593 square kilometers, accounting for 1.3% of the national area. The area is densely populated with cities, with a population of 5.7 million, accounting for 9% of the national population. The population density in the core area exceeds 2,700 people per square kilometer. There are 24 cities with a population of over 50,000, among which Essen, Dortmund and Duisburg all have a population of over 500,000. In the construction transition period of Ruhr area, its primary task is to carry out large-scale traffic construction. At present, Ruhr has the densest transportation network in Europe, with 600 kilometers of expressway, 730 kilometers of federal roads and 3,300 kilometers of rural roads. Without a complete public transportation system, it is difficult to form an urban agglomeration.
For Paris metropolitan area, rail transit also plays a major role in traffic. At present, there are 14 subway lines in Paris, with a total length of 2 12 km. Paris subway stations are densely distributed, with an average of one subway station every 500 meters. The average distance between stations of Metro Line 4 running through the north and south of the city is only 424 meters. The subway extends in all directions, and five suburban express train lines (RER) create good conditions for citizens to travel.
The integration of public transport in the Pearl River Delta has been discussed for many years, but it has been in the stage of "on paper". As one of the most developed and active areas in China, the cities are mainly connected by expressway, the national trunk highway network and four railways, including Beijing-Guangzhou, Beijing-Kowloon, Guangzhou-Shenzhen and Guang Mao. The highly concentrated urban agglomeration and the rapid development of national economy make the demand for passenger and cargo transportation increase sharply. The traffic volume of the main traffic passages in the region, especially around the Pearl River Estuary, tends to be saturated. For example, the traffic volume of Guangzhou-Shenzhen section of National Highway 107 has reached more than 75,000 vehicles/day, far exceeding the design capacity of 45,000 vehicles/day, and it is in an overloaded state. It is difficult to meet the needs of economic development and residents' travel only by existing transportation modes.
Guangdong released the first intercity rapid rail transit network planning in China. According to the "Planning", the scale of the network will build the main skeleton of two main axes, three rays and two tie lines: Guangzhou-Shenzhen and Guangzhou-Zhuhai are the two main axes; Guangzhou-Zhaoqing, Zhongshan (Xiaolan)-Jiangmen and Dongguan-Huizhou are three rays; Construction of Shunde-Panyu-Dongguan and Zhongshan-Humen connecting lines between the two main shafts of Guangzhou-Shenzhen and Guangzhou-Zhuhai; The total scale of the network is about 599.6 kilometers. By 2020, this transportation system will connect cities above the prefecture level in the Pearl River Delta. This network layout, which combines radiation and loop, makes nine cities in the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone become a "railway" network: with Guangzhou as the center, nine cities can reach each other within 1 hour, forming a real "one-hour life circle". In fact, the inter-city rapid rail transit in the Pearl River Delta is a "bus" system within the Pearl River Delta urban agglomeration and has become the main force of modern transportation in the Pearl River Delta. Its fast and punctual advantage will bring a qualitative leap to business, tourism, commuting, shopping and other trips, thus improving the level of the comprehensive transportation system in the Pearl River Delta. Most importantly, the inter-city rapid rail network will connect the scattered cities among regions into a whole, strengthen the connection and division of labor between urban agglomerations, enhance the supporting capacity between regional cities, improve the economic quality, save costs, help industrial clusters gather in central cities, and strengthen the professional division of labor among small and medium-sized cities, thus promoting the industrial upgrading and transformation of the whole region.
It's a good plan. The question is whether cities can be tolerant and open-minded when local interests are involved. To give the simplest example, as the southern trunk line, the Guanshen Expressway is one of the main channels to get through the meridians of the Pearl River Delta. It stands to reason that both Shenzhen and Dongguan should make it unimpeded. But at the junction of Shenzhen and Dongguan, Dongguan is a flat and tidy six-lane road, and once in Shenzhen, the road becomes narrow and difficult. Moreover, the road is in disrepair, and cars run on it, bumping endlessly-what is this expressway, what is this urban benefit, what is this strategic vision, and what is this urban cooperation.
If a single city in a city circle is a person's five internal organs and six veins, then traffic is a person's blood. Poor qi and blood will cause all diseases, and the circulation of qi and blood will be refreshing. The Pearl River Delta express railway network is a "golden corridor" between cities, which covers comprehensive transportation projects of major infrastructure such as expressway, urban expressway, subway and intercity railway. If it develops smoothly, it will change the "golden corridor" such as "one-hour traffic circle", which will not only promote the blood circulation of nine cities in the Pearl River Delta, but also shorten the time and space distance between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, accelerate the economic integration of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, and even bring revolutionary changes to the southern half of China.
New york metropolitan area is considered as the economic center of the United States. The great influence of the New York metropolitan area on the world economy lies not in the century-long accumulation of new york, nor in the fact that Washington is the political center of the world, but in the perfect industrial division pattern of the metropolitan area. As the nerve center of the world economy and international finance, new york occupies the core position of the region like the sun. In its dazzling light, other cities find their own position and become one of the other nine planets.
For example, in order to maintain new york's status as a financial center, Boston automatically sought industrial transformation. Today, the once extremely prosperous financial industry only accounts for 8% of Boston's economic structure, while high-tech research and development, education, commerce, trade and other industries account for half of the country. Similar to Boston, other core cities in the New York metropolitan area are also looking for the way of dislocation development with new york according to their own characteristics. After years of industrial configuration and development, Philadelphia's defense, aviation and electronics industries are the best in North America, while Baltimore's mining and shipping industries make the industrial distribution in this region diversified and complementary. The development of these cities is always inseparable from the radiation of new york financial center.
New york has always been in the dual core position of geography and status in the whole city circle. And its influence on the whole city circle is largely from Wall Street, only more than 500 meters. There are many famous financial institutions here, including new york Stock Exchange, Federal Reserve, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley. It is these well-known institutions that make Wall Street the "nerve center" of the international financial community. Of course, now it is not synonymous with glory, but a symbol of greed, but it is undeniable that it has made outstanding contributions to the new york metropolitan area. This is a bit like Shanghai's role in the Yangtze River Delta and Hong Kong's contribution to the Pearl River Delta. For the emerging enterprises in the metropolitan area, Wall Street not only provides them with the venture capital they need at the initial stage, but also provides more financial support for their subsequent development, as well as a series of financial services such as IPO listing.
In addition, due to proper division of labor, 35% of new york office workers do not live in new york, and some even live in Philadelphia. With the help of new york's capital advantage, all the cities in the metropolitan area have formed their own industrial highlights. The heavy industry in Philadelphia, the high-tech industry in Boston and the smelting industry in Baltimore are all world-famous. With new york as the core, the manufacturing belt, transportation belt and urban belt are integrated to form a multi-core urban agglomeration system. Diversified and comprehensive overall functions are far greater than the simple superposition of functions of a single city. The reasonable adjustment of industrial layout in the region has increased the complementarity among cities, thus enhancing the economic stability of the whole metropolitan area.
Throughout the New York metropolitan area, its hierarchical structure resembles a pyramid: the spire is new york, the second floor is Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, and the following are more than 40 small and medium-sized cities around five core cities. The five core cities have their own characteristics, which are developed in dislocation and complement each other. The formation of a reasonable regional division of labor pattern and industrial chain between new york and surrounding cities has become the foundation and guarantee for the development of this metropolitan area.
One more thing, core cities must realize that the division of labor will not weaken their position, but will only enhance their core competitiveness. No city can do everything, and how to upgrade the core is the key. For example, the emergence of London urban agglomeration did not lead to the decentralization of the city, but highlighted the international status of the core city London. Therefore, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and other core cities in the Pearl River Delta do not need to worry that urban integration will eventually marginalize themselves. As long as the core competitiveness is enhanced, it will eventually become stronger.
Compared with other city circles, the competition among cities in the Pearl River Delta is very disorderly. For example, Shenzhen should upgrade to high technology, and Zhuhai should also seize the highest point of science and technology; Guangzhou wants to build a financial center in South China, and Shenzhen also wants to become a "regional financial city" (everyone knows that it can't be done in Shanghai); Huizhou has to undertake the transfer industry in Shenzhen, and Dongguan has long been anxious; Guangzhou should be the boss, and Shenzhen should also be the boss. Although the goals and paths of industrial transformation in various places are "modern", they are not distinctive and lack creativity. Both Hong Kong and Shenzhen have proposed to develop creative industries, but how many "creative capitals" are there in the world? What is even more astounding is that Foshan also proposed to join hands with Guangzhou to create creative industries. This kind of disorderly competition will only make industrial development fall into a quagmire. Dongguan, which has been working hard in Shenzhen innovation and technology circle, even built a high-tech industrial park in Songshan Lake. Most of Dongguan are farmers who wash their feet and farm. Now they begin to study the chip. They want talent, not talent, technology, not technology, not details. Hi-tech is just a nice name. Therefore, the Pearl River Delta is not in the division of labor and cooperation, but in a group attack, stab in the back hurts people. If cities can cooperate in a healthy way and compete in the wrong places, it is also a creative industry. Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Foshan should have their own characteristics and focus. In the development of high-tech industries, Dongguan should also avoid collision with Shenzhen and Guangzhou, and it is best to meet the upgrading and transformation of local industries. Take the role of the market as the coordination basis of the industrial division of labor in the Pearl River Delta, give full play to the color of enterprise organizations as the main body of the market, and the government will coordinate in the middle. At present, local governments in the Pearl River Delta have taken the lead in promoting industrial transformation and upgrading, and may introduce a number of high-end enterprises and high-tech talents in the short term, but in the long run, blind excessive competition may not produce good market effects.
Just like Zhaoqing, from 2003 to now, Zhaoqing has undertaken 678 industrial transfer enterprises in the Pearl River Delta with a total investment of 44.65 billion yuan. The city has established more than 60 industrial agglomeration bases. Among them, in 2006-2007, 50 new industrial transfer projects were undertaken, with a total investment of12.45 billion yuan. In fact, Zhaoqing introduced New Central Asia Aluminum, Zhongdao Electronics Group, Jinhao Motorcycle, Chigo Household Appliances and China Resources Cement. Many of them are polluting enterprises, which will eventually damage Zhaoqing's thousands of acres of fertile land. Personally, I think Zhaoqing is more suitable for agriculture.
There is no distinction between high and low industries. The most important thing is to find a position that suits you. There is no life-and-death competition between cities in the Pearl River Delta. Every city can play its role and find its place in the economic map of South China. The solar system can go far normally because the nine planets can do their own jobs. If Mars moves into the orbit of Mercury in order to get more golden sunlight, the whole solar system will collapse because of disorder.