The State Council General Office issued a circular approving the city plan for Pingdingshan, Henan province.

The plan urged the city to focus on coordinated development between urban and rural areas, improve the functions of its small- and medium-sized cities and small townships, and its capacity to gather industries and grow the population.

According to the plan, by 2020, the city will control its urban residents within 1.1 million and its construction land within 106 square kilometers.

It urged the city to conserve land, strictly control the increase of construction land, explore the use of underground spaces and resources, improve the efficiency of land use, and ensure the protection of arable land, especially basic farmland.

The plan is aimed at building the area into a resource-conserving and environmentally friendly livable city.

The plan called on the city to weed out its outdated capacity, strictly control the volume of pollutants and develop green buildings.

The city will also increase the efficiency of using water resources and build itself into a sponge city, said the plan.

The plan also stressed protection of the city’s historical cultural relics and traditional features.