A news report from China.org.cn on Xiong’an:
Across many of the world’s languages, the word for “civilization” shares a common origin. Whether it is the English civilization, the French civilisation or the Spanish civilización, each traces its roots to the Latin word civitas, meaning “city.” This is no accident. Cities are the finest expression of civilization, embracing diversity and renewing themselves without end. As we look back at the past and ahead to the future, the very definition of the city has been reshaped. No longer merely a cold jungle of steel and concrete, the city is becoming a way of life, a vessel that makes life better.
On the north China plain, a city is rising to bring this vision to life. Conceived as a grand plan for China’s long-term development, Xiong’an is growing with remarkable vitality, turning bold visions of the future into reality.
Take a stroll through Xiong’an, the first thing that greets you is the fresh scent of trees and grass carried on the breeze. This is a city that has mastered the art of restraint. Rather than allowing concrete to spread unchecked, it embedded the principle of “planting trees before building the city” into every inch of its land from the start. The Daqing River Forest marks the starting point of the Millennium Forest initiative. Here, “millennium” does not mean expecting every tree to live a thousand years. Instead, it reflects the ambition to build a resilient forest ecosystem that can regenerate naturally, evolve continuously and remain vibrant for generations to come — a living legacy for the future. Over the past nine years, some 483.000 mu (32.200 hectares) of new forest has been planted across Xiong’an, expanding the city’s green coverage to 743.000 mu. As a result, forest coverage has climbed steadily from 11% to 35.1%. On this ever-greening landscape, a park city is gradually taking shape. The vision of “a forest within 3 kilometers, a greenbelt within 1 kilometer, a park within 300 meters, and green spaces everywhere” is no longer just a blueprint — it has become a way of life for residents.
Beyond its green spaces, Xiong’an runs on an invisible foundation of data and code. Some 40 billion pieces of city operation data form the lifeline of this cloud-based city. The physical city and its digital counterpart grow in tandem: every steel beam has a match in the virtual city, and every control valve carries its own IP address, keeping the city’s vital systems visible in the cloud. Smart, connected buses move steadily through the streets, reading road conditions accurately without the need for a driver. Smart lamp posts and roadside lidar sensors track traffic flow in real time, feeding data to the city’s computing center, where AI algorithms adjust traffic signal timing accordingly. When a camera detects an overflowing garbage bin, the system flags it automatically, and sanitation crews can complete the cleanup within 10 minutes. In Xiong’an, technologies such as financial big data, blockchain and artificial intelligence are no longer abstract concepts but practical tools for understanding residents’ needs and serving them better.
With its scenic surroundings and advanced technologies, the city’s ultimate aim is to serve its people. In Xiong’an, residents can meet nearly every daily need within a 15-minute walk from home. The city now has 105 elementary and middle schools and kindergartens, 80 elder care facilities and 43 community centers in operation. The “15-minute living circle” was part of the city’s plan from the outset, giving residents access to education, healthcare, elder care, shopping, dining and entertainment close to home. Tasked with relieving Beijing of functions not essential to its role as the capital, Xiong’an offers high-quality public services and close-knit communities that give people a place to build both a livelihood and a career.
The rapid rise of Shenzhen and Pudong once stunned the world. Now it is Xiong’an’s turn. The city is emerging with its own poise and wisdom, generating a fresh vitality all its own. Growing from a quiet, little-known plot of land to a visionary blueprint and finally to a rising city, Xiong’an is more than a symbol of urban development. It stands as a legacy this new era leaves for generations to come.
This is Xiong’an. This is the future!
