The Mayor of Zhanjiang and Deputy to the National People's Congress, Wang Zhongbing, has shared his views on people-oriented urbanization practices in an interview with people.cn, a website operated by People's Daily.

The mayor stressed the need for the process of people moving from rural areas to the city to be one which focuses on making sure that the urban environment and transport networks can cope with the influx of people.

Zhanjiang's efforts in the urbanization process have been centered on the building of a city based upon three environmental tenets. A "footprint city", aimed at reducing the reliance on cars for transport. A "sponge city", with the aim of using less concrete and providing more green spaces. And a "cycle city", providing more cycle networks for residents.

The concept of the "footprint city" was first put forward by Zhanjiang before going nationwide, said the mayor.

In an effort to make public transport, cycling and walking top choices for residents, Zhanjiang has taken a series of steps to build a green transport system.

A scientific distribution of road rights is one of them. At present, 40 percent of the road rights go to public buses, bicycles and pedestrians on newly built or renovated roads in the city.

"We have received widespread support in the building of the footprint city and green transportation. Now the residents are more willing to use public transport, ride a bike or even walk," said Wang.

According to the mayor, Zhanjiang has built a fairly complete public bicycle leasing system, serving an average of 26,000 users daily.

This year at the Government Work Report, Premier Li Keqiang pledged to stimulate new urbanization through granting urban residency and public services to more people and improving people's living environments.

Deputy to the National People's Congress and Mayor of Zhanjiang, Wang Zhongbing gives an interview during the two sessions, with people.cn, March 8.

Edited by Owen Fishwick