ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses regional planning and its mechanism in China. Different from city plans or the Economic and Social Development Plan (the so-called FiveYear Plan), which have been formulated for several decades, the Chinese statutory regional planning is still at the earlier learning stage. However, this type of plan has attracted great interest and attention from different ministries of the central government that intend to influence policy-making at regional or provincial level. It is typically when China is still under its process of transition in terms of economy and urbanization that regional development planning is a significant tool of government in intervention to development. The consequent result is that the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (MoHURD) and National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) are actively involved in regional and provincial plans making. Two types of regional plan, i.e. the Provincial Integrated Urban System Plan which is produced by MoHURD, and the regional plan for the Development Priority Zones that is produced by NDRC, are formulated to guide regional development. The contents, relevant main principles of these two types of regional plans, and the tasks of provincial government in development will be discussed in the following sections of the chapter. A new regional mechanism of coordination – Cities Alliance – is also explored.
