Policy Interpretation：
The Implementation Rules for the Integrated Planning and Construction of Beijing Municipal Rail Transit Stations and Surrounding Area (Trial)
On October 31, 2022, the 180th executive meeting of the Beijing Municipal Government deliberated and adopted the “Implementation Rules for the Integrated Planning and Construction of Beijing Municipal Rail Transit Stations and Surrounding Areas (Trial)” (hereinafter referred to as “these Rules” or the “Implementation Rules”), which are circulated recently by the General Office of the Beijing Municipal Government circulated these Rules. Below is an interpretation of the policy.
I. What is the background and significance of these Rules?
The integration of rail transit and surrounding areas is important to further implementing the Beijing Urban Master Plan (2016-2035), promoting the organic integration of rail transit and urban functions, and the efficient integration of rail transit and surrounding land. The purpose of these Rules is to fully implement the requirements of high-quality development, further standardize, institutionalize and procedurally promote the integration of the city’s rail transit yards and stations, and propose policy measures for the difficult and blocking problems encountered.
II. What is the basis for the formulation of the Implementation Rules?
The Implementation Rules mainly include the Opinions on Strengthening the Planning and Construction of Integration of Rail Transit Stations and Surrounding Sites (JZBZ (2018) No. 43), and the Reply on the Work Plan for Promoting the Integration of Rail Transit and Urban Renewal in Beijing and the List of Beijing Rail Microcentres (First Batch)> (JZZ (2020) No. 18), and the Implementation Rules are a continuation of the above-mentioned series of policies with complementary purposes.
III. What are the main contents of the Implementing Rules?
The Implementing Rules consist of 14 articles. Articles 1 and 2 mainly explain the purpose, basis and general requirement of the Rules.
From Article 3 to Article 13, the main responsibilities, procedures and work content of rail transit integration are clarified from the perspectives of “integrated planning and design”, “integrated land use management” and “integrated implementation and connection”.
Firstly, from the perspective of strengthening the horizontal integration, it proposes to carry out the preliminary work of integrated planning of lines, integrated scheme of stations and integrated engineering design in a hierarchical and phased manner, and to clarify the preparation content, approval process and the role of results at various levels.
Secondly, from the perspective of refining the land management procedures and requirements for rail transit integration projects, it clarifies the work procedures for land development and preparation, land acquisition, cost confirmation, cost transfer, land supply and real estate formalities for integration projects.
Thirdly, from the perspective of convergence and promoting station-city integration, and taking into account the common features of integration projects, it refines policies and work requirements in two aspects, namely safeguarding synchronous works and reserved works, and clarifying relevant approval processes and responsible bodies for better efficiency.
Article 14 focuses on the scope of application of the Implementation Rules.
IV. What are the main highlights of the Implementation Rules?
Firstly, in view of the unsynchronized timing of land use planning along the rail line, the Implementation Rules require that transit investment and construction work together with the district government to prepare an integrated planning scheme for the line, synchronize the land use sorting, scheme research and form a task list, and that the integrated scheme for the line should be well connected with that of communities, township territorial and spatial planning and control regulations.
Secondly, for integration projects involving multiple projects and subjects, the Implementation Rules require that during the feasibility study and overall design stage, or the preparation of integrated planning and design schemes for rail transit stations and surrounding area, the district government, in conjunction with rail transit investors and constructors, should prepare integration schemes and specify the subject of the scheme. The district government will work as the leading coordinator for such integration.
Thirdly, where land resources around the rail stations and the timing of land supply do not match with that of rail construction, the Implementation Rules require the district government to prepare annual land resources plan and annual construction land supply plan, which should be aligned to the line integration plan and the relevant requirements of the site station integration plan to speed up the land resources preparation work and orderly supply of land.
Fourthly, to address the issue of land supply procedures for land of different nature, the Implementation Rules propose to classify land supply procedures in accordance with the ownership boundaries of rail transit facilities, related reserved works and operational land as specified in the integrated engineering design scheme. If the railway facilities are to be built by the land project, the relevant requirements will be incorporated into the project’s integrated review, land bidding documents and land grant contract before the operational land is listed.
Fifth, in order to effectively concentrate resources around the stations, the Implementation Rules propose to encourage district governments to bring more construction project and land resources to the vicinity of rail stations, improve the implementation mode of “rail + land”, establish a cost coordination mechanism and a model that synchronizes relevant plans.
Sixthly, in order to ensure that the relevant integration projects are designed and implemented simultaneously with the construction of railways, the Implementation Rules propose that traffic connection and public service facilities that are inseparable from the railways and need to be implemented simultaneously can be declared by the main investor or builder of railways along with the railways project for pre-approval of land and site selection opinion, and incorporated into the feasibility study or preliminary design of the railways project for simultaneous implementation. These Rules support rail transit projects to provide convenient services to the public through integrated planning and construction, and feed the corresponding revenue back to rail transit.
Seventh, the Implementation Rules encourage the integration of adjacent land with rail stations for the effectiveness of integrated implementation. The Implementation Rules specify that roads, bus stations, traffic connections and other transport and municipal facilities that need to be implemented at the same time as rail projects should be included in the reserve pool of major projects in the city and district as a matter of priority, and that the relevant city departments and district governments should co-ordinate and secure funding to speed up the organization of construction and ensure that they are put into use at the same time as rail transport.
Eighth, for rail transit station and surrounding projects not matching the timing of the integration where partial of the work should be reserved, these Rules clarify the review and approval process of the relevant reserved works, funding, and transfer mode so as to avoid repeated approvals.
