Focus Insights

　　To some extent, the attitude toward the distance of a city reflects its developmental potential. In Yichang, the constant expansion of “One Hour Economic Circle” just illustrates the whole city’s developmental track.

　　What’s the “One Hour Economic Circle”? In brief, it’s a circle area whose centre is the large city or megacity with one hour’s commuting distance as its semidiameter.

　　In 1978, Jiaozhou-Liuzhou Railway was completed and open to traffic with which the one-hour traffic circle in Yichang only covered the urban area while the three-hour traffic circle just reached to some outskirt counties and cities. In 2002, the whole Dianjun District was enclosed “One Hour Economic Circle”. In 2005, the coverage of “One Hour Economic Circle” extended from counties to villages and towns with the range of traffic service wider and logistics more frequent.

　　The Initial Formation of the Traffic Circle of Eight Lines and Three Circles

　　In the Twelfth Five-year Developing Schedule of Yichang, the coverage of “One Hour Economic Circle” has become larger , initially forming” Eight Lines and Three Circles” including Built ones: Hanyi、Jinyi、Huyi  Expressways and under construction ones:Yiba、Baoyi、Yizhang、Yiyue Expressways and Yilai Expressway which is to be built with the total mileage of 837 Km. “First Circle” is the green channel of the city centre, covering 80 square kilometers of the city; “Second Circle” is the Half-an-hour Economic Circle connecting Yichang Yangtze River Bridge and Three Gorges Dam with the area of 1400 square kilometers of the city; “Third Circle” is the One-hour Economic Circle,covering all central towns of counties、districts and cities, the key scenery spots and mining area with the  total are of 700 square kilometers.

　　On the occasion, all the counties of the city will have the easy access to the expressways while all the towns will lead to the expressways in 30 minutes. We can reach such wide areas as Enshi in the west, Wuhan in the east, Nanyang in the north and Yueyang in the south only in 3 hours respectively.

　　Only after the formation of one hour traffic circle will the building of “One Hour Economic Circle” be of reality significance. “The watermelons of Dangyang which are picked in this morning can be provided on the table to the residents; the paper walnuts which are boxed up at this dusk can be bought in supermarkets of the city in this evening.” Ma Hongyan, the Director General of Municipal Traffic Bureau, depicts “One Hour Economic Circle” which can stretch all directions in the grand blueprint with such examples.

　　According to the traffic department, the 62 key projects of transportation with a total investment of 51.6 billion RMB last year, are overall advancing. The fixed asset investment in city’s transportation will reach up to 10 billion RMB this year. The last three years have become a period featured by the largest investment scale, the fastest developmental speed and the most beneficial to people. Now, the “one hour economic circle “has begun to take shape with a solid traffic layout and the expansion of city space.

　　Make Economic “Kernel” of Yichang and Western Area in Hubei

　　How well the economy develops depends on how far we can travel in one hour.However, the break of geographical boundaries and the shorten of spatial distances are the first step, and the more important thing is to form a main economic zone with the function of radiation and concentration and to be a bigger economic “kernel” of Yichang and western area in Hubei instead of the city proper.

　　In China, many mature economic circles have come into being and many cities around Yichang are planning their city circles. For example, Chongqing formed its urban agglomerations by standing on the nine areas in major city and bringing the qualifying counties which are within one hour\'s drive from the inner ring highway into its “one hour economic circle”.  Wuhan connected with Huangshi, Xiaogan and Huanggang with the help of the intercity railway and formed its “half an hour economic circle “.  The economic circle of Yichang is slightly different from their ways which basically covered the central cities of all the counties and cities.

　　The development of the roads not only shortened the spatial distances, but also brought about the optimal configuration of resources and industries. In tourism, the building of “one economic circle” and the connection of surrounding circles mark the tourism in Yichang more accessible and convenient which will contribute to reaching its goal of being a world-class tourist destination. In industries, "the one hour economic circle “can accelerate the industrial agglomeration, optimize the industrial structure, build a group of competitive industrial bases and develop the industrial clusters as well. In addition, it will also promote the dynamic integration of the infrastructures of transportation, water conservancy, energy, information, society and environmental protection and comprehensively enhance the overall efficiency of the infrastructure system.

　　The change in the macro level of “ one hour economic circle “ reflected on the micro living of the citizens is the “same city effect”, which means locals can take buses between the cities, work in the city, yet still live in the country. The shorter time spent on the road is, the higher the population’s happiness index is. (Reporter Li Gen)