Economic Daily | "One Area, Two Certificates" Resource Sharing: The First Underground Water Reclamation Plant + Smart Manufacturing Industrial Park Transforms "Dilemmas" into "Win-Win"

Recently, People's Daily published a front-page article titled Ningbo's Foreign Trade is Stable and Dynamic, praising Ningbo's continuous innovation models that help China's manufacturing and market connect with the world. The stability of foreign trade is rooted in a robust manufacturing industry. Ningbo is an important industrial production base in China and the first pilot demonstration city for "Made in China 2025".

To address both "people's livelihood concerns" and "industrial development" simultaneously, Ningbo is innovating to promote the construction of a high-level innovative city. In June 2023, an underground water reclamation plant was officially put into operation in Jiangbei District, Ningbo. It addresses local ecological governance issues underground while promoting the development of emerging intelligent manufacturing industrial parks above ground. It is regarded as a comprehensive development model that emphasizes both "aboveground and underground synchronization" and balances "livelihood and industry". It provides new solutions for urban renewal and sustainable development.

Jiangbei District of Ningbo is an old urban area with a dense population, lacking effective sewage treatment facilities, which is a "pain point" for the ecological environment in the region. To thoroughly solve this problem, the Ningbo municipal government thoroughly evaluated traditional aboveground sewage plants and underground water reclamation plants, ultimately selecting China Water Environment Group, a leading domestic and internationally renowned sewage treatment and resource utilization enterprise, through public tender, to construct the underground water reclamation plant in Jiangbei District. According to the reporter, the plant has a processing capacity of 150,000 tons per day and is responsible for treating sewage from around 300,000 people in the surrounding area. It adopts underground water reclamation ecological system technology, achieving comprehensive development both above and below ground by placing sewage treatment equipment underground, turning "not in my backyard" into "yes in my backyard" for the neighborhood. At the same time, it provides high-quality reclaimed water resources for the aboveground space and surrounding areas, constructing an urban water ecological complex centered around the underground water reclamation plant.

"It's hard to imagine that beneath this industrial park lies a sewage treatment plant, saving land while not affecting production and generating economic benefits. "

"Jiangbei District not only lacks centralized sewage treatment facilities but also faces a shortage of industrial land. In this context, the government ultimately decided on the development plan of constructing a water reclamation plant underground and an industrial park aboveground, achieving comprehensive development both above and below ground, with equal emphasis on livelihood and industry." Officials from the Ningbo Water Resources Bureau stated that this model of coordinated development both above and below ground is rare in China. The conventional practice involves developing wetlands and green parks above ground, with no precedents to draw from. Therefore, in terms of land supply and planning, government departments are gradually finding solutions through trial and error.

As one of the top 100 districts in comprehensive strength and green development in the country, Jiangbei District has strong development momentum. However, the addition of industrial land in the area is scarce. Therefore, urban space in Jiangbei is extremely valuable. If the industrial park is developed above ground, it will release the development potential of 122 mu of urban land.

During the project planning phase, the "one case, one discussion" principle was adopted, with the government leading coordination among various departments to overcome difficulties in land approval. At the same time, control and planning adjustments were made to achieve vertical layering of land use, becoming the country's first innovative model to adopt the "one area, two certificates, coordinated planning" approach. Underground land is designated for public and environmental facilities, allocated to the water plant enterprise by the government for free use, while above-ground land is designated as Class I industrial land, transferred through "bid-auction-listing" form. After multiple rounds of bidding, the ground land was finally sold at a price of 1.31 million yuan per mu, generating nearly 160 million yuan in fiscal revenue for the government and driving 635 million yuan in investment. After the industrial park is completed, it is expected to create 2,000 jobs and generate an additional annual tax revenue of 40 million yuan. The approval mode shifts from serial to parallel, adopting a new model of intensive land use, and employing a water-source heat pump system... In addition to the coordination of aboveground and underground elements, the "one area, two certificates" is also a highlight of this project.

Officials from the Ningbo Water Resources Bureau told the reporter that to fully promote the construction task of the water plant, the Municipal Water Resources Bureau has set up a special team and has coordinated with the Jiangbei District government several times to address related issues in site selection and land acquisition, eventually realizing the implementation of the "one area, two certificates" model. To ensure that the main trunk pipeline and the water plant are constructed and put into use simultaneously, the Municipal Water Resources Bureau has coordinated with the Municipal Capital and Planning Bureau and the Municipal Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau to determine the pipeline planning route, promoting the early implementation of supporting trunk pipeline projects.

Huang Jian, a senior engineer at the Ningbo Water Environment Group project, said, "The 'one area, two uses' model in the construction of underground water reclamation plant projects is a national precedent. This innovative model has borne fruit in Ningbo under the strong support of various relevant government departments. "

Currently, the 20 buildings of the emerging intelligent manufacturing industrial park above ground have all been capped, and the main construction has been completed. According to the original plan, they are expected to be completed by the end of June 2024. At that time, this industrial park, which integrates production manufacturing, research and development design, trial production transformation, production enterprise headquarters, product display, and production service support functions, will attract small and micro enterprises in the incubation and acceleration stages.

The exploration of the new model benefits primarily the surrounding residents and urban governance. Officials from the Ningbo Water Resources Bureau stated that, on one hand, they are promoting the maximization of recycled resource utilization. They have implemented the "reclaimed water resource recycling" project, focusing on four reuse directions: ecological water supplementation for rivers, landscape greening irrigation water, high-quality industrial direct water supply, and municipal miscellaneous water use. By networking and supplying reclaimed water through "reclaimed water pipelines + industrial water supply pipelines + urban river networks," they promoted the recycling and utilization of reclaimed water, turning waste into treasure, and have cumulatively supplemented over 15 million tons of water for the ecological water supplementation of major rivers such as Jiangbei River.

On the other hand, they are promoting integrated energy conservation and emission reduction. They are fully utilizing the characteristics of the warm winter and cool summer temperatures of underground water plants, focusing on developing green and energy-saving water source heat pump systems. By utilizing the heat pump principle to raise the temperature using air or water as a secondary refrigerant and then transporting it to buildings, it can provide heating and cooling for around 200,000 square meters of surrounding aboveground buildings. Compared to traditional air conditioning systems, it saves about 50% of electricity consumption and reduces carbon emissions by around 4,500 tons per year.

As one of the nearby employed individuals, Su Honghong, a villager from Su Feng Village in Zhuangqiao Street, Jiangbei District, Ningbo, has been working at the Zhuangqiao Purification Plant for over half a year. "It's really just like what the street and village committees said at the beginning, there's no noise or strange smells. The operation of the water plant not only cleans up the river but also provides me with a job right at my doorstep,"Su Honghong said.

The aboveground and underground integrated development model of the underground water reclamation plant in Jiangbei District has not only solved the problem of unbalanced sewage treatment in various regions of Ningbo but has also achieved significant economic and social benefits, emphasizing both people's livelihoods and industries.

In fact, underground water plants are not a new concept. In May 2022, the General Office of the State Council issued the Opinions on Further Revitalizing Existing Assets to Expand Effective Investment(hereinafter referred to as the Opinions). The Opinionsproposed actively exploring models such as underground sewage treatment plants, property development above subway stations, comprehensive development of above and below-ground spaces at transportation hubs, and the development of operational public service spaces in affordable rental housing communities to effectively revitalize existing railway stations and surrounding exploitable land assets, and enhance project profitability. Recently, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment jointly issued the Implementation Opinions on Promoting Synergistic Efficiency Enhancement of Sewage Treatment, Pollution Reduction, and Carbon Reduction, which clearly stated that "cities with scarce land resources can build fully underground/half-underground sewage treatment plants and encourage the reasonable use of aboveground space by building parks and green activity areas".

China's basic water situation involves a large population, limited water resources, and uneven spatial and temporal distribution of water resources, which do not match with economic factors. Data shows that although China has a large total water resource volume, the per capita water resources are only one-fourth of the world average, making it one of the 13 countries with the most scarce per capita water resources globally.

Wang Hongchen, Deputy Dean of the School of Environment & Natural Resources at Renmin University of China, stated in an interview with reporters that looking at international experience in addressing water scarcity issues, unconventional water resource development and utilization such as sewage recycling, is the fundamental approach. Different regions can utilize underground sewage treatment plants to intensively use land, reduce carbon footprints, and continue exploring development potential based on local conditions.

"During the project implementation process, we fully leveraged the technological advantages of China Water Environmental Group's underground water reclamation ecosystem, truly achieving environmental friendliness, land intensification, resource utilization, and green low-carbon development. Today, the ecological, social, and economic benefits of the water reclamation plant have gradually emerged, and the industrial park under construction above ground will welcome relevant resident enterprises after its completion by the end of June 2024," said project leader Chu Wuyue. Against the backdrop of the release of related policy dividends and institutional exploration, the integrated development of above and below-ground water reclamation plants has received high attention and full support from local government departments. This not only will serve more residents but also become a "cradle" for enterprise growth. "The underground water reclamation system developed through the integrated development of above and below-ground spaces has created the 'Ningbo Model' for water environment green and low-carbon industrial development, transforming traditional treatment and discharge into efficient utilization of water resources, land resources, and green energy. This model has excellent reference and promotional significance for areas with scarce resources and high land values," said Chen Jianping, project manager of the Ningbo Water Environment Group.