Guangzhou authorities unveiled a new plan on Monday that outlines the city’s ambitions for its transport network between 2023 and 2035.
Officially known as the Guangzhou City Comprehensive Transport System Plan (2023-2035), the blueprint aims to expand the provincial capital’s role as an international logistical hub according to a statement from the Guangzhou Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Bureau.
In order to achieve this goal, the local government is looking to develop a transport network that it has dubbed the “1-2-3-12 transport circle,” with each of the numbers in the network’s name denoting the journey time between Guangzhou and different locations: one hour to the main cities of the Greater Bay Area (GBA); two hours to and from the eastern, western and northern parts of Guangdong province; major Chinese cities and Southeast Asian cities within 3 hours; and major international cities in 12 hours.
[See more: Here’s how to get to some of the Greater Bay Area cities from Macao]
As well, Guangzhou intends to develop a “global 1-2-3” logistics circle for the transport of goods, with the 1, 2 and 3 representing the number of days it takes to deliver goods to the domestic market, neighbouring countries and key international cities respectively.
The plan also outlines specific targets for the development of transport within the city. For instance, it aims to have at least 90 percent of residents able to complete their commute to the city centre within 45 minutes. Meanwhile, a 75 percent goal has been set for the proportion of green vehicles on the road.
While these goals are ambitious, Guangzhou has been gradually boosting its road, rail, aviation and port capacity in recent years.
