How to coordinate the Development of Urban-Rural Integration

The Fifth Plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee regarded "coordination" as one of the five major development concepts, and proposed to focus on promoting the coordinated development of urban and rural areas, promoting the coordinated development of economy and society, and promoting the simultaneous development of new industrialization, informatization, urbanization and agricultural modernization. In the face of the current dilemma that the city is getting bigger and the countryside is getting more and more empty, how to adhere to the concept of coordinated development and promote the integration of urban and rural development is an important issue that needs to be actively considered.

1. Core idea: coordinated development and overall promotion

Practice at home and abroad has proved that coordinated development is a successful way to effectively promote the integration of urban and rural development. Promoting the integration of urban and rural development is an inevitable requirement when industrialization, urbanization and agricultural modernization develop to a certain stage.

Throughout Japan, South Korea, France, the United States, Germany and other developed countries, all of them have experienced the stage of social development of sharp opposition between urban and rural areas, and all kinds of problems brought about by the uncoordinated development of urban and rural areas, but also in the case of extremely uneven development of urban and rural areas. take various measures to achieve a high degree of integration of urban and rural areas.

For example, in Norway, in the 1960s, there was a serious imbalance between urban and rural development, and the income gap between urban and rural residents was once more than 3 ∶ 1. A large number of farmers flowed to the cities, and then through the implementation of a series of policies such as the "Regional Development Plan", the integration of urban and rural areas has been completed, and farmers enjoy almost the same living conditions, income standards and social welfare benefits as citizens. On the other hand, Brazil and other Latin American countries entered the initial stage of modernization in the 1950s and approached the level of urbanization in Europe by 1980. however, due to the lack of timely policy measures, they failed to correctly handle the relationship between urban and rural areas. at present, the rural infrastructure in many Latin American countries is very backward, and there are a lot of slums. Kunshan, Guangzhou, Suzhou, Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu and other areas in China have also created a more mature model of urban-rural integration.

Successful experience at home and abroad has proved that adhering to the coordinated development of urban and rural areas is an effective way to enhance the integrity of the economic and social development of a country or region. Only by strengthening the integrity and coordination of urban and rural development, reflecting the differences and complementarities between the two, can we be stable and far away.

To promote the integration of urban and rural development is not to take the city as the center, simply to promote a new type of urbanization, to turn farmers into citizens, nor to build a new socialist countryside and turn rural areas into cities, but to attach equal importance to urban and rural areas. we should promote industry and agriculture, urban and rural areas, urban residents and rural residents as an organic whole. We will promote the integration and common development of urban and rural areas in the concept of development, planning and layout, allocation of elements, industrial development, public services, and ecological protection, so that they can taste the quality of life in the countryside and enjoy the modern civilization of the city in the countryside.

While emphasizing the overall promotion, we should also highlight differences and complementarities. As two different economic and social spatial forms, city and township have different natural attributes, population distribution and social functions. To promote the coordinated development of urban and rural areas, we should not only "seek common ground" and highlight integration, but also "preserve differences" and avoid assimilation. We should not transform the countryside and occupy the countryside with the urban way of life. For example, the style and features of 370000 villages in France have not changed for more than 200 years, but they have also achieved rural modernization. In order to prevent the homogenization of the two different industrial forms of agriculture and industry, and the assimilation of the two different landscapes of rural areas and cities, especially in the construction of the new countryside, we should keep the regional characteristics and folk customs.

Urban and rural areas are complementary and symbiotic in many aspects, the development of rural areas can not be separated from the radiation and drive of cities, and the development of cities can not be separated from the promotion and support of rural areas. To promote the coordinated development of urban and rural areas, we should closely link urban and rural areas, adhere to the misplaced development of urban and rural areas, and promote the two-way flow of various elements between urban and rural areas. While absorbing more rural people to settle in cities, let those who remain in rural areas live and work in peace and contentment, and attract more urban people to live for leisure in rural areas, so as to enhance the vitality of rural areas, so that "going to the city" and "going to the countryside" are in the right place. to form an integrated production and life pattern of urban and rural areas with complementary advantages and interdependence.

two。 Top-level design: overall planning for industrial integration

All the successful cases of coordinated development of urban and rural areas in foreign countries are the top-level design that pays attention to the integration of urban and rural areas. For example, in view of the fact that the speed of urbanization has greatly accelerated after the Industrial Revolution, a large number of rural population has transferred to cities, and rural areas have become increasingly desolate, Britain has put forward the idea of a "pastoral city" that combines urban and rural problems. The formulation of the Urban and Rural Planning Act, the establishment of an independent urban and rural planning management organization, has become the first country in the world to establish an urban and rural planning system.

Governments at all levels should study and learn from the successful experience of foreign countries, take urban and rural areas as a whole, comprehensively consider, plan and design as a whole, and implement the integration of urban and rural overall planning, land use overall planning, and industrial layout overall planning, so as to effectively solve the problems of urban and rural disconnection and emphasis on urban and rural areas. In accordance with the differences in the main functional areas, we should make overall plans for the spatial layout of industry and agriculture, urban and rural areas, consciously separate urban residents' living areas, industrial areas, business and trade areas, logistics areas, financial areas, leisure areas, university areas, and business areas, and distribute some business and industrial areas to the suburbs and rural areas, so as to promote rural development. For example, in the planning of the food safety system, consideration can be given to the layout of the raw material base to the processing of end products in rural areas, and the implementation of the integration of agriculture, industry and trade, so as to accelerate the overall planning of urban and rural areas.

Industry is the key to the coordinated development of urban and rural areas. Without industrial support, the integration of urban and rural development will become water without a source and a tree without roots. From the perspective of foreign practice, developed countries attach great importance to the overall development of urban and rural industries and make a rational division of urban and rural industries. For example, Japan once experienced a sharp flow of rural population to cities and widening differences between urban and rural areas. later, through policy measures such as the formulation of the "New National Comprehensive Development Plan" and the introduction of the Industrial Promotion Law in rural areas, encourage the transfer of urban industry to rural areas, strengthen the ability of enterprises to connect with rural areas, effectively promote rural industrialization, and achieve balanced and overall development. South Korea implemented the "one village, one society" plan in the 1990s, legislating to require powerful enterprises to dock villages and help industries, including agricultural product development, sightseeing agriculture, village renovation and so on.

From the perspective of domestic exploration, Hunan Province has organized and carried out the activity of "ten thousand enterprises unite villages and common development" since 2007, encouraging and guiding the vast number of non-public enterprises to carry out industrial cooperation with rural areas in the form of industrial joint villages and project belt villages. remarkable results have been achieved in promoting the integration of urban and rural areas, promoting agriculture by industry, and leading villages by cities. At present, more than 6700 non-public enterprises in the province have docked and cooperated with more than 9800 administrative villages, invested more than 57 billion yuan in various kinds of funds, implemented more than 2100 industrial projects, and the per capita net income of farmers in twinning villages is 32 percent higher than the average level of the whole province.

Governments at all levels should grasp the key of industry, guide the capital, talent, technology and other modern economic elements of urban enterprises to flow to rural areas, and promote the rational distribution of urban modern logistics, e-commerce, agricultural products processing and other industries in rural areas. promote the integration of industry and agriculture, enterprises and farmers hand in hand, urban and rural linkage, and gradually narrow the gap in the level of industrial development between urban and rural areas. Specific policies should be issued to encourage and guide industrial and commercial capital to develop modern farming industries suitable for enterprise management in rural areas, encourage social capital to invest in rural construction, and allow enterprises and social organizations to set up all kinds of undertakings in rural areas. For enterprises that meet the requirements of national industrial policies and environmental protection that transfer from urban to rural areas to engage in agricultural production and participate in poverty alleviation, as well as small and micro enterprises located in the suburbs or rural areas, we should focus on supporting taxes and fees, finance, land use, electricity consumption and subsidies, so as to attract more market subjects to invest, consume and operate in rural areas, and promote the spread of consumption and development opportunities to rural areas, thus alleviating the pressure on cities. And prosper the rural economy.

3. Laying a solid foundation: narrowing the gap and equality of services

Since the 1930s, the United States has always attached importance to the construction of rural infrastructure such as roads, hydropower, drainage and irrigation, and market. at present, within 100 kilometers around the metropolis, it is difficult to distinguish between urban and rural areas.

To promote the integration of urban and rural development, we must lay a solid foundation. Infrastructure, public services and social governance are the gaps between urban and rural areas except industry. The integration of urban and rural development can only be effectively promoted on the premise of tamping the rural foundation.

First of all, the most intuitive manifestation of the gap between urban and rural areas is infrastructure. Throughout the world, countries with a high degree of urban-rural integration attach great importance to infrastructure construction, and some even extend urban infrastructure to the rural level.

China has a large population and little land and a large number of farmers. limited by the carrying capacity of resources and environment, it is difficult to catch up with the developed countries in a short time. At present, we should adhere to the principle of "urban-rural co-construction, urban-rural networking, and urban-rural sharing" and promote the extension of urban infrastructure such as roads, water supply, sewage networks, garbage disposal, power, telecommunications, environmental protection, and information technology to rural areas, so as to achieve "seamless docking" and interconnection, so that farmers can enjoy a modern civilized life. It is necessary to reasonably demarcate the boundaries of urban development, avoid unlimited urban expansion and replace rural areas, and make cities more like cities and rural areas more like rural areas through the integrated construction of urban and rural infrastructure.

Secondly, we should promote the equalization of public services in urban and rural areas. For a long time, due to the failure to deepen the reform of the dual system between urban and rural areas, a large number of migrant workers living in the city can not become urban residents, but can not enjoy urban life to serve the city. in particular, the new generation of migrant workers yearn for the city but are not accepted by the city, and are increasingly alienated from the countryside. At the same time, the "hollowing out" in rural areas is becoming more and more serious.

At present, major breakthroughs should be made in cracking the urban-rural dual structure, promoting the equal exchange of urban and rural elements and the balanced allocation of public resources, and speed up a series of institutional reforms such as household registration, land, social security, employment and education. so that everyone in urban and rural areas can enjoy equal basic public services.

Finally, urban and rural areas should be coordinated and governance should be coordinated. With the acceleration of the integration of urban and rural development, the rural community has entered a period of rapid change and transformation to a modern community. It is necessary to continue and deepen the construction of rural communities, plan and build more villages in urban suburbs and urban-rural junctions into rural communities with relatively complete facilities, and strive to create a close "community service circle." so that the majority of rural residents can also enjoy high-quality and efficient community services.