Smart Towns Break New Ground: 20,000 Towns Become New Growth Drivers

As smart city construction begins to take shape, the development of smart towns is also entering the planning agenda of relevant government departments.

According to available data, the number of smart cities that have been completed or are under construction nationwide has exceeded 400. In the near future, a pilot project aimed at establishing a broader scope, incorporating more than 20,000 small and medium-sized cities (towns) into smart town initiatives, is set to be officially launched early next year.

The strategy of developing smart, new-style towns has now been elevated to the national strategic level. The report at the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China explicitly stated, "Adhere to the path of new industrialization, informatization, urbanization, and agricultural modernization with Chinese characteristics, promote the deep integration of informatization and industrialization, the positive interaction between industrialization and urbanization, and facilitate the synchronized development of industrialization, informatization, and urbanization."

Furthermore, the 18th National Congress report explicitly included "a significant improvement in informatization levels" as one of the goals for building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and proposed pursuing the path of new industrialization, informatization, urbanization, and agricultural modernization with Chinese characteristics, promoting the synchronized development of these "four modernizations."

This is regarded by the industry as a positive signal for the nation's vigorous development of smart towns: incorporating more cities, towns, and urban areas into the scope of smart cities is precisely an important pathway to fully achieving "a significant improvement in informatization levels."

Analysts point out that urbanization represents China's greatest potential for domestic demand. Informatization drives and enhances the level of urbanization, and the smart city is the optimal model for combining informatization with urbanization. The launch of new-style urbanization will present a major opportunity for the development of smart cities.

Therefore, new-style urbanization will be the top priority for city managers at all levels, representing an upgrade and improvement for regions with lower urbanization rates. New-style urbanization will comprehensively consider a city's economy, industry, ecology, intelligence, public services, and sustainable development. Smart city-related enterprises should seize this opportunity, develop relevant solutions around new-style urbanization, and build smart cities with Chinese characteristics and rich connotations.