By March 2025, the State Council of the People’s Republic of China had approved 40 territorial spatial master plans for provinces, provincial capitals, and municipalities for the period 2021–2035. Among these are the recently endorsed plans for Xi’an and Xiamen, which were selected as low-carbon and climate-resilient pilot cities under the IKI Urban-Act project. These plans lay out a spatial governance framework that integrates ecological, agricultural, and urban spaces, aiming to safeguard national food security and ecological integrity while supporting sustainable urban and regional development over the medium and long term.
The master plan for Xi’an focuses on balanced development between the city’s core and its wider administrative area, including the integration process of Xi’an and Xianyang New Area. It aims to transform Xi’an into the economic center of Western China, and to strengthen its international role by developing it into an international transport hub, a center for international exchange, and a major tourist destination. The plan also prioritizes environmental protection in the Yellow River Basin, Qinling Mountains and Weihe River Basin.
Meanwhile, the master plan for Xiamen highlights the city’s strategic role as a southeast coastal gateway and an international destination for coastal tourism. Xiamen is positioned as a special economic zone and a central hub on the southeast coast, with ambitions to develop into a modern maritime city and a key node for international transport and cross-strait exchange. The city is expected to serve as a regional center for scientific innovation and to lead the construction of the core area of the “21st Century Maritime Silk Road”. Additionally, the plan supports the city’s integration with broader regional initiatives, including the Yangtze River Delta and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, while fostering regional synergy across the Xiamen-Zhangzhou-Quanzhou metropolitan area. In terms of land development and protection, Xiamen’s master plan also promotes greater integration of on-island and off-island urban areas, strengthens cooperation with Jinmen, and enhances the service capacity of the central city.
Both master plans provide strategic direction for urban development, infrastructure expansion, and environmental conservation. They also establish a legal foundation for more specific and thematic planning efforts, such as transport and ecological protection plans. In line with the objectives of the Urban-Act project, these strategies aim to enable sustainable, low-carbon, and climate-resilient growth.
Selected as pilot cities under the Urban-Act project in 2020, Xi’an and Xiamen each reflect distinctive local priorities and contexts—Xi’an as a historic inland center in western China, and Xiamen as a coastal city with maritime significance. The project seeks to mainstream climate change considerations in spatial planning. Current efforts include climate risk assessments and strategies for resilient urban planning in Xi’an, as well as low-carbon transport development and biodiversity protection planning in Xiamen. These activities aim to inform the design of specialized plans that integrate both climate adaptation and mitigation into urban development pathways.
Original Policy:
The State Council’s reply to the “Xi’an Municipal Land and Space Master Plan (2021-2035)”.
The State Council’s reply to the “Xiamen Municipal Land and Space Master Plan (2021-2035)”.
