An aerial view of the Sanjianghui area, located at the intersection of the Qiantang, Fuchun, and Puyang rivers. [Photo/WeChat account: hzfbwx]

Hangzhou officially launched construction on a future city in its southern region on March 18, local media outlets reported.

The future city, which is located at the intersection of the Qiantang, Fuchun, and Puyang rivers, will span an area of 458 square kilometers and cover the districts of Xihu, Binjiang, Xiaoshan, and Fuyang.

The city will always put people's needs first and will have five development focuses: ecology, culture, innovation, intelligence, and social governance.

The Sanjianghui area, which lies at the intersection of the three rivers, will be developed into a "green lung", and an ecological park known as Central Green will start construction this year. It will encircle the Dongjiangzui, Chang'ansha, and Yiqiao areas in a 32.4-sq-km space.

The Sanjianghui flood bank improvement project will also start this year, stretching a length of 31.4 kilometers. It will be designed as a world-class waterfront attraction by integrating with the local environment, parks, green pathways, cultural attractions, and recreational facilities.

The plan also stated that the Binjiang area will focus on research and development related to digital finance, Zhijiang New Area will focus on sci-tech development and cultural and artistic innovation, Shuangpu town will focus on entrepreneurial and innovative progress, Xianghu area will focus on innovative cultural exhibition, Yiqiao town will focus on intelligent manufacturing, and Dongzhou sub-district will focus on ecological research.

Hangzhou aims to have the future city well underway by 2025, be completed by 2035, and be functioning at full capacity by 2050.

A rendering of the future city in Sanjianghui area. [Photo/WeChat account: hzfbwx]