According to information released yesterday by Yichang Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, Yichang’s overall plan of construction for this year has been decided, and a total of 42 billion yuan will be invested in the construction of urban public facilities, among which 12 billion yuan will be invested in the construction of the municipal public infrastructures. The new built-up urban area (including quasi-built-up area) will be 20 square kilometers, making the total built-up area 170 square kilometers. It is expected that the urbanization rate will reach 58%.

　　It is said that this year the Yichang City will accelerate the research on early-phrase of projects and mainly focus on increasing quantity and speed. The preliminary work of 180 projects of 2014 should be completed timely according to the construction sequence of overall arrangements for the construction of a megacity, integrating ecological, environmental-friendly and post-modern concepts of construction into the project design. The construction of urban expressway networks should be a guiding factor, with the building of urban ring expressway that contains 2 latitudinal lines and 2 longitudinal lines as a key project. The construction of Miaozui Yangtze River Bridge, Dianjun Avenue, Xiazhou Avenue, Jiangcheng Avenue, the extension part of Xiling 2nd Road, Huaxi Road and some other projects should be accelerated, and efforts should be made to initiate the construction of Wujiagang Yangtze River Bridge within this year. The construction of Bus Rapid Transit(BRT) in Dongshan Avenue should be speed up. While building up new regions, the project of rebuilding old city in central urban areas should start. 10 large regions such as South Circuit Road, 403 Factory, Central Business District should be rebuild to promote organic renewal of the city.

　　In addition, Yichang City will accelerate the construction of Yichang into a most livable ideal city and start the construction of an ecological garden city this year. We will continue the integral control and protection of “Three Rivers and Ten Reservoirs”, forming an organic combination of the control of Bolin River and the construction of wetland park and building a hydrophilic ecology park. Dongshan Canal will be built into a gallery of waterscape; Qiaobian River will be built into an urban ecological park. Meanwhile, the construction of water landscape that centers on reservoirs around the urban areas will be started. The project of increasing green sceneries should be promoted and the construction of 7 major parks including Dongshan Park and Moji Hill Park should be accelerated. The construction of a greenway system that combines walking, cycling and landscaping will be initiated. The construction of colorful trees along the main roads should be carried out. The green coverage ratio should reach 41.75% and the per capita park green area should reach 14.2 square meters.

　　Moreover, it is learned that, based on the goal of constructing a green ecological city, Yichang will give full support to the construction of three ecological corridors(6 666,67 hectares of land along the Yangtze River, 13,333.33 hectares of land south of Fanba Highway and 20,000 hectares of land encircling the city) in Dianjun District, forming a green ecological area. (Reporter Zhao Wei, correspondent Chen Feng)