1 Procedures of a new city planning project

Survey on planning and development of new cities and areas in China

Process of Planning at the central level
- The general decision-making process in China for spatial planning and new city developments through the various stages of planning including responsibilities of the key authorities at central level
Process of Planning at the provincial level and big cities (mainly province capitals)
- The general decision-making process in China for spatial planning and new city developments through the various stages of planning including responsibilities of the key authorities at provincial and municipal level

1.1 At the central level

At central level in China, 20 years is a time circle for making a new master plan, now it is at the third circle period (2000 – 2020). New city planning and development is based on below approval procedures. Be aware that it is generic and applied for normal building projects. The illustrated procedures can be varied from region to region slightly.

Procedure 1: Map the master plan.Planning department at central level takes the lead and organizes different functions to conduct the master plan (National Development and Reform Commission)

Procedure 2: Write out the plan.In general, the local municipal government will be responsible for organizing editing work of the master. The local Urban Planning Bureau/Commission will be entrusted for practical work. A leading group will be established and experts from relevant parties will be involved and give their comments to this master plan, such as

Local Water Affairs Bureau
Local Environmental Protection Bureau
Local Land Resources Bureau
Local Construction Bureau
Local Development & Reform Commission
Local Transportation Bureau
Local Agriculture Bureau
Local Health Bureau
Local Culture Bureau
Local Statistic Bureau
Local Tourism Bureau
Local City Administration Management Bureau
Local Telecommunication Bureau
Local Power Corporation
Local Finance Bureau
Local Public Security Bureau
Etc.

Procedure 3: Approval from State Council.Submit the master plan to the State Council for approval, for those provincial cities and cities directly under the central government (86 cities in total)

Procedure 4: Approval from National People’s Congress.After the approval of State Council, submit the master plan to the National People’s Congress (NPC)

Procedure 5: Clarify details of the Plan. Based on master plan or district plan, the regulatory plan will define the land use nature, road and pipeline location and space environment control, etc. normally the plan is in accordance with a reasonable construction cycle. The local planning department will host a joint meeting for detail planning. Relevant parties are design institute, municipal engineering company, water affairs department, environment bureau, etc. They will give comments and provide relevant data to regulatory planning.

Procedure 6: Land preparation and developing. The land development project must be in accordance with local government’s social development plan, general urban planning, master planning of land use, yearly land use planning, yearly land supply planning, etc...

Normally, the local government will establish their own investment company or construction company to do land development. Land development includes keeping the joint connection to traffic, electricity, water, drainage, telecommunication, cable TV, coal gas, and natural land consolidation. Through a serious of procedures, the land developer moves industries, villages and people, deals with old buildings, infrastructure and pollution. Then a new infrastructure e.g. water and energy should be implemented. After finishing all the developing procedures, the developed land should be put into land bank which is administrated by local government.

Procedure 7: Developer selection.Licensed registered real estate development companies participate in the open bidding for the planned project and the winning company shall be eligible to carry out development of the planned project.

Procedure 8: Purchase developed land.The developer shall pay fee to local government for developed land use (in China all lands are state-own) and afterwards obtain permit of land use from local government.

Procedure 9: Apply for building permission. The real estate developer can apply for building permit from local construction administration with construction plan and so on.

Procedure 10: Construct the buildings. All needed permits and contracts (with designing institute, contractor, auditor, etc.) are in place, the construction can start. In China, there are a few real new cities construction. The most popular projects are city enlargement, industry park projects, tourism area construction, university town projects, or development zone construction.

The local municipal government or administration commissions are mainly responsible for coordinating the detail work. A joint meeting will be carried out and representatives from relevant parties will participate so as to ensure project implementation. See following parties:

Local Development & Reform Commission
Local Construction Commission
Local Urban Planning Commission
Local Environmental Protection Bureau
Local Water Affairs Bureau
Local Power Supply Corporation
Local Municipal Administration Management Commission
Local Transportation Bureau
Local Greening & Landscape Bureau
Local Tourism Bureau
Local Real Estate Management Bureau
Local Land Resources Bureau
Local Fire Control Bureau
Local Civil Defence Bureau
Local Statistic Bureau
Local Subway Company
Local Road Agency
Etc.

Procedure 11: Acceptance. After the construction finished, local administration will inspect the buildings according to codes and signed contracts and issue certificates if qualified.

1.2 At the provincial level

For cities not in the list of the provincial cities and cities directly under the central government, the approval procedures are as below. The illustrated procedures can be varied from city to city slightly. This is often smaller scale projects compared to the projects above (1.1) and therefore the following process does not include the development of the land.

Procedure 1: Map and Write out the master plan.In cooperation with local planning, land, environment protection and house/real estate administrations, a local (city or town) annual real estate development plan will be mapped out by local construction administration according to local overall land plan, yearly land plan for construction, local urban planning and the demand and supply of house market and subsequently submitted to local government for approval.

Procedure 2: Clarify details of the plan. Having been consulted with relevant administrations, local construction administration will come up with an ‘opinion-notice’ on a planned real estate project with following information:

Function (for commercial or living), size and time/period
Design requests based on local urban overall plan
Construction requirements on infrastructure and public facilities
Building lines and the boundary of land
Ownership of the planned project
Requirement on demolition
Construction quality request (Grade)
Taxes

Procedure 3: Developer selection.Licensed registered real estate development companies participate in the open bidding for the planned project and the winning company shall be eligible to carry out development of the planned project.

Procedure 4: Land preparation.The developer shall pay fee to local government for land use (in China all lands are state-own) and afterwards obtain permit of land use from local government.

Procedure 5: Design and architect preparation.Design and architect will start based on national codes and both concept and final drawing shall be approved by local urban planning administration.

Procedure 6: Apply for building permission.With obtaining all above requested permits or approves, the developer shall apply for building permit from local construction administration with construction plan and so on.

Procedure 7: Construct the buildings.All needed permits and contracts (with designing institute, contractor, auditor, etc.) are in place, the construction can start.

Procedure 8: Acceptance.After the construction finished, local administration will inspect the buildings according to codes and signed contracts and issue certificates if qualified.

For purchase of building materials or suppliers selection, according to relevant laws, the public funded projects shall go through the open bidding process and now the private developers also quite often to use bidding mechanism in order to ensuring ‘value for money’.