Studies on the Exploration of Constructing Towns in Mountainous Areas in Southwest China

Bin HAN

Yunnan Institute of Public Administration，Kunming 650111，China

For a long time，urbanization in China expands rapidly.People in West China have to find a way to build houses in mountains，as the arable land there remains shrinking.In recent years，China has made great progress in exploring new lands for construction.This paper studies the construction of houses in Yunnan so as to provide references for the construction of towns in mountainous area in West China.

1 The necessities for the construction of towns in mountainous area in Yunnan

The urbanization level in Yunnan is low as there are few cities in quite unreasonable structure.Besides，the development in east and west Yunnan is imbalance.The urbanization rate in Yunnan in 2012 is39.3%，far lower than the average of 53%of national level.Only Kunming is quite a large city.The population in the second largest city in Yunnan is only around 0.6 million，and large cities often lie in the east and middle part of Yunnan，such as Kunming，Qujing，Yuxiand Honghe.With the pressing development in Yunnan，urbanization promote land development and protection，and the contradiction between the protection of arable land and the necessity of construction land in urban and rural areas is gettingmore and more prominent.In 2010，there were0.25 million newly added land for construction，among which 0.124 million mu were arable lands.Now，30%of the level ground which is above 10 square kilometers have been used as land for construction［3-4］.Therefore，it is imperative for Yunnan to find new ways to build houses and to protect arable land.

2 Experiences in constructing towns in Yunnan

The space of townsand the structure of land optimized significantly after Yunnan Province put forward themajor strategies of＂protecting farmland and constructing towns in mountains＂.

2.1 Focusing on improving efficiency and straightening out mechanismDali state of Yunnan Province innovated the administrative management mechanism by establishing policies on having regularmeetings among leaders for developing Haidong，for the coordination and guidance，and policies on assigning people from both state governmentand city government to work on Haidong development.Besides，the protection of farmland is set to be legalized，standardized and scientific.Relevant laws have been made，such as Management Rules on the Construction of Villages in Dalizhou，and Protection of Haixi in Dalizhou.What's more，it is necessary to make sure the amount and quality of lands in the farmland.Major projects，such as reforming low productive fields，have been implemented，and new ways to extend the space for construction have been explored，like rearranging the land distribution，and building houses on the useless land.

2.2 Regulation on the planningThrough planning and regulating，Lijiang city needs to make sure of the red line of arable land，and include the surrounding mountains into the general planning of the city.The protection rate of basic farmland in the city will be increased from 70%to 81%，and nearly 0.1 million mu land for construction have been changed into mountains.The protected arable land will be increased to 0.118 millionmu，and the 0.99millionmu basic farmland will be protected forever to increase the percentage of the basic farmland protection rate and the percentage of land use.

2.3 Scientific and sustainable development of building towns in mountainous areasFirst of all，the distinct characteristics represent the vitality of towns in mountainous areas.The construction of towns in mountainous areas needs to take into consideration the protection and inheritance of national culture.For example，the old towns in Li jiang and Shidian reveal the traditional culture of local nationalities to build villages around the mountain tomake full use of natural environment and the forest views.Secondly，farmers'worries need to be dispelled to encourage more farmers working in the city by preserving their special identity and special rights.For instance，Dalizhou originally plans to have 0.12 million people move from agriculture to city in 2012，but with the help of policies0.178 million people havemoved from agriculture to city.Thirdly，infrastructures can be set up first［5-6］.

3 Problems in the construction of towns in mountainous areas in Yunnan and restraining factors

Because of extinct differences in living styles，developing modes，cultural customs and ecological geographic environment in different places，the project of building towns in cities is different from building towns in flat areas in planning thought，development mode，construction requirement，ecological protection and business attraction，etc.Thus，the problems and difficulties are more challenging.

3.1 Existing problemsNowadays，people's understanding towards building towns inmountains and sustainable development is not profound.There are unilateral inclinations in carrying out the project.First of all，people only focus on building towns in the mountain and neglect livelihood，and public service facilities construction.For example，farmers enjoy different policies on the project.Secondly，the coverage rate is low and the planning progress is stagnant.Thirdly，there are many mistakes in the urban construction，as there are toomuch real estate projects，different nationalities and regional features on construction styles，and blind westernization，etc.Fourthly，there are few trade off policies，which would not attract much attention from companies.Under the premise of higher threshold，there should be more concrete measures regarding on how private companies enjoy similar treatments with national companies.

3.2 Restraining factorsThe fact that the construction of towns in mountainous areas would involve any administrative departments gives rise tomany restraining factors，such as policymaking，system mechanism and fund difficulties，etc.Firstof all，the approved policies are imbalanced.For example，the inconsistent standards of land classification by national administrative depart ments make it necessary to get both arable land compensation and forest compensation for the same piece of land，which increases the cost of town constructions and approved policies，and restrains the advancement of urban construction.Secondly，the technological indicators are insufficient.As the land development and construction is greatly influenced by geological environment and natural landscape，the given housing construction density and floor area ratio indicator are inappropriate to the requirement of land development.Thirdly，it is difficult to raise fund.The investment in the construction of supporting infrastructure is large，and the construction cost multiplies，while governments at all levels have difficulty in finding so much money，which would affect the speed of land construction.Fourthly，the quota indicator is not enough.Land construction indicators and the forest quota indicators are not enough，which has become the bottleneck for further development of building towns in mountainous areas.

4 Relevant suggestions on the construction of towns in mountainous areas

Judging from the reality in Yunnan，the construction of towns in mountainous areas is an essential political reform and innovation，and a beneficial try for breaking contradictions between large demands and limited resources supply.In order to pave the way to scientific and sustainable construction towns in mountainous areas，following suggestions are put forward.

4.1 New ideas on sustainable construction of towns in mountainous areasThe core of protecting farmland and building towns in mountainous area is to realize sustainable construction of towns in mountains.It is necessary to straighten out core problems and purpose.

First of all，it is imperative to solve problems in people's livelihood.On the one hand，the infrastructure in the countryside needs to be improved，so is the landscape of countryside and farmers'living condition.On the other hand，more supporting policies should be made to encourage farmers to participate in the construction project.

Secondly，scientific and restricted construction of towns can be planned.The ecological construction is not only be a matter of quantity.On the other hand，based on the reality，it is necessary to make sure the authority of planning.Meanwhile，the planning at each level will be included into regional laws and regulations system to reduce administrative will.

Thirdly，industrial integration and mutual interaction are based on the construction of industrial new town，to exert industrial supporting effect and to enhance the bearing capacity of towns.More people gather together through employment，and supporting facilities，municipality construction and public service enhanced.

Fourthly，the purpose is to build characteristic towns，to build a special town with local features and outstanding nationality characteristics，and to optimize spatial distribution through culture guidance to integrate landscape，construction styles，natural environment，nationality and customs.

4.2 Setting up new mechanism to among different departmentsThe construction of towns in mountainous areas involves many departments，such as national territory，forestry and house living departments.Right now each department cannot connect with each other sufficiently，so it calls for fast and efficient coordination mechanism.

To start with，it is suggested to set up a connection platform among different departments to reduce examination and approval and to improve the work efficiency.Besides，provincial departments can give out some rights to lower level departments，and provincial department should try to get national depart ments'support.

Secondly，stimulating and restraining management mechanism should be introduced.Sound evaluation mechanism and supervision mechanism should be setup to encourage and punish the one that deserves.

Thirdly，it is advised to establish a social supervision mechanism that can be participated by the entire city.The purpose of building towns in mountainous areas is to respect and respond to farmers'opinions.

4.3 Measures on differencesStandard macro principles and standards have been issued in the construction of towns in mountainous areas，but these principles are difficult to be implemented in reality.

Firstly，differences between the construction of towns on level ground and the construction of towns in mountains should be addressed.The key to the research is to study how to reduce the compensation cost for mountain construction，to differentiate spatial distribution of construction land in the flat area and mountainous areas，and tomake policies on comprehensive development of hilly land，infrastructure construction，ecological protection and geological disaster prevention.

Secondly，systems for technological indicators of the mountain land development are issued.The construction density，floor area ratio，and construction height are different from the actual requirement in land development.

Thirdly，supporting policies should be issued and approval process can be simplified.Problems such as long duration，complicate process，little supporting policies，and much roadblocks should be addressed.

For the time being，there is no uniform mode for the construction of towns in mountainous areas，especially as people have different survival methods，living habits，development modes，and cultures.Therefore，each place should explore it sown way to construct towns in mountainous areas through innovation and learning from.

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