heal.abstract |
To get rich, build roads first" (要想富,先修路)
This phrase, attributed to Deng Xiaoping, reflects his philosophy of economic development and reform. Deng believed that infrastructure and connectivity, such as roads, transport networks and communications, are fundamental to the development of a region. This strategy was widely implemented in China, with massive investment in infrastructure such as roads, railways and bridges becoming instrumental in the country's economic transformation.
Every great leader after president Deng has handed down a series of great projects to the next generation (Deepak, 2023). Shenzhen, where the heart of global technology beats today, was Deng Xiaoping's vision. Pudong outside Shanghai was the vision of leader Jiang Zemin and has been China's economic and financial centre ever since. Chongqing was promoted by Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao in the early 21st century. The city emerged as a new industrial and logistics center for western China.
This thesis focuses on a new smart city that will be delivered to its citizens within the next decade. It is the Xiong’an New Area 100 kilometres southwest of Beijing and is the vision of the current president Xi Jinping.
This city is an excellent example where modern technology is applied in all stages of the construction of the city. From the space chosen as an all-white canvas, from the construction of the buildings that will host new technologies, from the modelling of the data and its shape to the delivery of the city that intends to become the new centre of global innovation by applying new technologies to the infrastructure and urban planning.
The aim of the present analysis is to study this project at the planning level and try to draw conclusions that may be useful on the other side of the world, in our Greece and in our Athens. In the author's eyes, the similarities between Athens and Beijing are many in proportional sizes. These are two capitals of countries, with dense construction and a similar "big city disease" as mentioned in the Chinese literature (Ni P., 2017). The approach of the Chinese State to build a new city next to its capital in order to decongest it may also provide a solution to our own problems here. At the end, the analysis will be finalized with a list of actions that have been followed during the construction of Xiong’an and may inspire scholars and policy makers of urban planning for our own progress and prosperity, driven by the solutions that modern technology can provide.
Keywords: Smart City Development, Techno-economic Analysis, Xiong’an New Area, Urban Planning, PPP’S, State Entrepreneurialism, Urban Development |
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