It's reported by Economic Information Daily that, following enactment of national encouraging policy, it's entering a boom stage in the construction of featured towns, but it's a pity that some featured towns are constructed "out of shape", some local governments are contented with "government performance towns", some towns center too much on "property development", while other towns focus on "form" rather than "spirit", leading to lack of special features.

Many Chinese internet users complain that, some local governments are blind to actual need and merely follow in the trend of construction of featured towns, but overlook the essence of "specialty", which is evidently opposite to original intention of fostering featured towns. Therefore, featured towns should be constructed in line with local conditions with industries as the carrier.

Government Performance Driven Town, Nothing is "Special"

Some Chinese internet users believe that, many alleged featured towns are "not special", which is directly related to anxiety of local governments for quick success by "task project" and "image project". One netizen, named Qin Bei, points out that some local governments, in order to build local towns to a given size within time limit, take as construction projects as "money and rank", hence ignore the key factor of "special"; what is worse, many property developers take such projects as "gold mine", so as to make featured towns as "house properties" against original intention of construction.

Another netizen, named Dong Wenlong, argues that "special features" should be primary attribute of "featured towns", including cultural features, resource features, industrial features etc. With the thinking of quick success of massive construction in short term, it'll be bound to "path dependence" of the construction model in other featured towns, and inflexible imitation and copy for immediate effect will pay the cost of towns lack of features otherwise could have been avoided.

According to Li Ya, an internet user, if featured towns focus too much on "fame" instead of scientific planning, they're OK in "exterior", but lack of "interior" such as supporting infrastructure and services, no industrial and tourism advantages will play a big part, tremendous waste of manpower and financial resources will be unavoidable, and it even results in the phenomenon of "empty city".

Guided by Standards, Highlight the Edges

Keep Featured Towns to be "Special"

Hu Jianbing, an internet user, argues that featured towns should be built according to deliberate planning without hastiness, and that special features are core for sustainable development. Some other internet users call for local governments to refine and improve supporting measures in the construction of featured towns, avoid blind pursuance of fast achievement and quantity, but stress on the advantages of special industries, construct and mature featured towns in light of unique local human environment and geographical condition.

Li Ya adds that, to avoid sameness among featured towns, the first thing to do is to adopt a scientific and feasible overall planning design, to avoid such problems as cloning, copying, low-level redundant development etc.; secondly, local governments should mine the essence of local traditional culture, pinpoint industrial advantages, and foster unique human temperament and commercial atmosphere; again, local governments should establish rigorous approval procedures for construction of featured towns, and refine approval processes and indicators.

Qingfeng Mingyue, a netizen, suggests that, local specialty should be aligned in industrial planning as the lifeline of development, and local development should be supported by adequate industrial background, with focus on integrated development of high-end, rising and traditional industries. In addition, construction of featured towns should be guided by cultural features and ecological resources, implemented in terms of space, style, project, activity, environment etc.

Ji Yan, another netizen, recommends that, to prevent construction of featured towns from "off-track" and consequential "unoccupied new town", indicators and standards should be established for limit and assessment, to eliminate utilitarian yardstick of government performance, and performance should be assessed by quality instead of quantity.