The State Council on July 8 released a circular approving a ten-year urban plan for Nantong city in east China’s Jiangsu province.

According to the overall urban planning (2011-2020), uniform urban-rural planning and management should be implemented within a 1,770 square kilometer area. It also said that urban-rural infrastructure and public service facilities should be developed in a well-coordinated manner to gradually promote equal access to basic public services in both urban and rural areas.

The circular called for the reasonable control of the city’s size. It said, by 2020, the number of permanent residents in the central urban area should be below 2.15 million, while urban development land should not exceed 254.3 square kilometers, in order to form a rational and compact urban layout.

The State Council urged Nantong city’s local government to build urban infrastructure in line with the concept of green and low-carbon development. It said that a comprehensive urban transport system, featuring public transport and a combination of various transport methods, should be developed. High attention should also be paid to the city’s disaster prevention and mitigation work, according to the circular.

The circular also stressed strict control of the quantity of discharged pollutants and active promotion of low-impact development models to build a resource-saving and environment-friendly city. The protection of special ecological functional areas, such as natural reserves and wetlands, should also be reinforced, it said.

The local government is also required to make efforts to create a more livable environment, with constantly improved urban management and services.

The circular said that it is also important, at the same time, to protect historical culture and local features, including historical and cultural sites and their surrounding environment.

The State Council called for concerted efforts by related local departments in Nantong city to implement the overall planning in accordance with related laws and regulations.

Nantong city, the economic center in the north of Yangtze River Delta, is both a modern port and a national historical and cultural city.