GUANGDONG Province is seeking global wisdom for the planning and design for its Golden Inner Bay, an area that stretches 100 kilometers inland on all sides of the Pearl River Estuary.

The Golden Inner Bay will cover parts of six cities, including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Dongguan, and Zhongshan. Tentatively, areas of Shenzhen that fall within the Golden Inner Bay include Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone and Futian, Nanshan, Bao’an, Longhua, and Guangming districts, according to a pre-announcement made by the provincial department of natural resources to solicit international input for the project.

The project aims to promote high-quality development and integration within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA)and the economic advancement of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and cities on the western side of the Pearl River Estuary.

Planning of the bay will address the project’s overall strategy and spatial arrangement in the context of regional integration, innovation-driven industrial upgrading, and China’s modernization, according to the pre-announcement. Furthermore, urban design must focus on key bordering areas and highlight inter-city cooperation.

The Golden Inner Bay idea was first introduced in 2022 at the 13th Guangdong Provincial Party Congress.

The Golden Inner Bay includes a 100-kilometer coastline along the “A-shaped” Pearl River estuary, 2,100 square kilometers of sea, and parts of three surrounding major metropolitan areas. It contains Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Foshan, and Dongguan, whose annual GDP has exceeded more than 1 trillion yuan (US$140 billion) each. 

It also includes Shenzhen’s Qianhai, Guangzhou’s Nansha New District, Dongguan’s Binhai Bay New District, Zhongshan’s Cuiheng New District, and Zhuhai’s Hengqin Free Trade Zone, which are key drivers of economic development in the GBA.

In 2019, the State Council promulgated the outline development plan for the GBA, designating Hong Kong, Macao, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen as its four core engines.   

 (Li Jing)