Since the term “Characteristic Towns” was proposed in 2014 by Li Qiqiang, then governor of Zhejiang Province, the construction projects of characteristic towns have now spread all over the country. Significantly different from the definition of “towns” under traditional zoning administration, characteristic towns are a new development platform that provides comprehensive services including production, commerce, tourism and residence, and features deep integration of “industry, city and human”. Their healthy development will not only promote the shift in driving forces for development and economic transformation and upgrading, but also will foster coordinated development of cities and towns of different sizes and the construction of new types of urbanization. The key issue we are facing is to deepen the integration of industrial development and the construction of characteristic towns, promote the development of characteristic towns through “City-Industry Interaction and City-Industry Integration”, and avoid building “hollowing-out” and “disordered” characteristic towns. We should strive to build a number of characteristic towns that have a cluster of emerging industries, upgraded traditional industries, flexible systems and mechanisms, strong cultural atmosphere, and beautiful ecological environment. Since the concept of “Characteristic Towns” was first proposed, great achievements have been made in their development. However, many prominent issues are meanwhile exposed in the ubiquitous construction of characteristic towns, such as “all characteristic towns are the same” and “hollowing-out towns”. How to develop characteristic towns through industries and integrate cities and industries have become an urgent issue in the construction of future characteristic towns. This week, Professor Liu Zhibiao, Dean of Yangtze IDEI, held discussions with relevant experts and scholars on the topic “How to Develop Characteristic Towns Under City-Industry Integration”.
