Megalopolis: the future of urban planning in China
Plan to link Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei into city the size of Uruguay and as populous as Japan is seen by president as template for urbanisation
A massive new economic megalopolis - integrating more than 100 million people living in Beijing, Tianjin and the neighbouring province of Hebei - will become an independent region influencing its own urban planning over the next five years, according to an official report released on Tuesday.
The idea to link the three areas into one massive megalopolis is said to be a pet project by President and party chief Xi Jinping .
He believes the model for the new metropolis can become a template for China's future urbanisation.
Its 216,000 sq km size will dwarf the 177,879 sq km size of Uruguay, while its combined population will be roughly the same as Japan, the world's tenth most populous nation.
The region will have a combined gross domestic product of more than 6 trillion yuan (HK$7.6 trillion), making it China's third main economic engine after the Pearl River and Yangtze River deltas.
"The cities of Beijing and Tianjin and Hebei province will work together with central agencies to draft a unified 13th five-year plan," reported the Economic Information Daily, an affiliate to the state-run news agency Xinhua.
The 13th five-year plan covers the years from 2016 to 2020.