Promoting Connotative Urban Development through Cultural Construction

The city is an important engine of modernization and occupies a pivotal position in the overall work of the Party and the state. Promoting high-quality urban development and building modern people’s cities are not only inherent requirements of Chinese-path modernization, but also inevitable demands for comprehensively advancing the building of a strong country and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-path modernization. The Central Urban Work Conference held in 2025 made a clear judgment: “China’s urbanization is shifting from a period of rapid growth to a period of stable development, and urban development is shifting from a stage of large-scale incremental expansion to a stage focused on improving quality and efficiency from existing stock.” [1]1 The Central Urban Work Conference, held in 2025, is a high-level meeting convened by the CPC Central Committee to set the direction for urban development policy. The *Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of the People’s Republic of China* made arrangements around “promoting connotative urban development,” proposing to “promote the transformation of urban development models and build modern people’s cities that are innovative, livable, beautiful, resilient, civilized, and wise.” Culture is the soul of the city and the endogenous driving force of urban development; cultural construction plays an important role in promoting connotative urban development.

城市是现代化建设的重要引擎，在党和国家工作全局中具有举足轻重的地位。推动城市高质量发展，建设现代化人民城市，既是中国式现代化的题中应有之义，也是以中国式现代化全面推进强国建设、民族复兴伟业的必然要求。2025年召开的中央城市工作会议作出明确判断，“我国城镇化正从快速增长期转向稳定发展期，城市发展正从大规模增量扩张阶段转向存量提质增效为主的阶段”。《中华人民共和国国民经济和社会发展第十五个五年规划纲要》围绕“推动城市内涵式发展”进行部署，提出“推动城市发展方式转变，建设创新、宜居、美丽、韧性、文明、智慧的现代化人民城市”。文化是城市的灵魂和城市发展的内生动力，文化建设对推动城市内涵式发展具有重要作用。

Continuing the historical lineage of the city. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out, “The city is a carrier of a nation’s cultural and emotional memory; historical culture is the key to a city’s charm.” Historical culture is not only a concentrated expression of a city’s profound connotation, unique quality, and distinctive characteristics, but also an important foundation for promoting connotative urban development through cultural construction. Many cities in China, especially some old urban districts with long histories, originally had their own characteristics, were colorful and diverse, and possessed many precious historical memories. To promote connotative urban development through cultural construction, it is necessary to strengthen confidence in historical culture and continue the historical lineage of the city. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasizes, “In urban construction, we must ensure that residents can see mountains, view water, and remember their nostalgia.” [2]2 This is a well-known quote from Xi Jinping, often cited in discussions of urban planning and heritage preservation, emphasizing the importance of maintaining a connection to one’s hometown and cultural roots. “Remembering nostalgia” requires protecting and promoting fine traditional Chinese culture, continuing the city’s historical lineage, and preserving the genes of Chinese culture. This requires us to protect not only the cultural relics, historic sites, historic districts, and industrial heritage left by our predecessors, but also the famous historical and cultural cities, towns, and villages; to protect not only ancient and modern buildings, individual buildings and groups of buildings, but also residential houses with strong local flavor and intangible cultural heritage such as folk customs with rich local characteristics. Of course, continuing the historical lineage of the city does not mean simply restoring antiquity or imitating the ancients, still less being rigidly antiquated. Rather, it requires handling the dialectical relationship between the protection, transformation, development, inheritance, and utilization of urban historical culture with a high sense of responsibility towards history and the people, truly realizing the promotion of connotative urban development on the basis of protecting, inheriting, and utilizing urban historical culture well. To this end, we should further improve the urban and rural historical and cultural protection and inheritance system that is scientifically classified, strongly protected, and effectively managed; improve the long-term mechanism for the survey, census, and assessment of urban historical and cultural heritage; and improve the management system for the protection, inheritance, and utilization of urban and rural historical culture and the protection implementation mechanism with residents as the main body. Use digital technology to carry out dynamic protection, utilization, and inheritance of cultural relic resources, historical buildings, industrial heritage, and intangible cultural heritage, so that urban and rural historical and cultural heritage can be integrated with modern urban life, complementing each other.

赓续城市历史文脉。习近平总书记指出，“城市是一个民族文化和情感记忆的载体，历史文化是城市魅力之关键”。历史文化既是城市深刻内涵、独特品质、鲜明特色的集中体现，更是以文化建设助推城市内涵式发展的重要基础。我国许多城市特别是一些历史悠久的老城区本来就各有特色、多姿多彩，有许多弥足珍贵的历史记忆。以文化建设助推城市内涵式发展，需坚定历史文化自信，赓续城市历史文脉。习近平总书记强调，“城市建设，要让居民望得见山、看得见水、记得住乡愁”。“记得住乡愁”，就要保护弘扬中华优秀传统文化，延续城市历史文脉，保留中华文化基因。这就要求我们既要保护好前人留下的文物古迹、历史街区和工业遗产，还要保护好历史文化名城、名镇、名村；既要保护好古代建筑和近代建筑，保护好单体建筑和群体建筑，还要保护好具有浓厚乡土气息的民居和浓郁地方特色的民俗等非物质文化遗产。当然，赓续城市历史文脉并不是简单复古仿古，更不是泥古，而是要本着对历史和人民高度负责的精神，妥善处理好城市历史文化的保护改造开发与传承利用的辩证关系，真正实现在保护好、传承好、利用好城市历史文化的基础上推动城市内涵式发展。为此，应进一步完善分类科学、保护有力、管理有效的城乡历史文化保护传承体系，健全城市历史文化遗产普查调查评估的长效机制，完善城乡历史文化保护传承利用的管理体制和以居民为主体的保护实施机制。运用数字技术对文物资源、历史建筑、工业遗产和非物质文化遗产等进行活态保护利用传承，让城乡历史文化遗产与现代城市生活融为一体、相得益彰。

Shaping the distinctive urban landscape. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out, “The distinctive urban landscape is the organic unity of a city’s external image and internal spiritual essence; it is the cultural characteristic of a city formed by the long-term accumulation of natural geographical environment, economic and social factors, and residents’ production and lifestyle.” The distinctive urban landscape contains the spirit and vitality of the city, highlights the city’s characteristics, determines the city’s taste, and is the key to promoting connotative urban development through cultural construction. In terms of content and characteristics, the distinctive urban landscape has two aspects: external material manifestation and internal spiritual manifestation. To promote connotative urban development through cultural construction and accelerate the shaping of the distinctive urban landscape, comprehensive measures need to be taken from both the external material manifestation and the internal spiritual manifestation. From the perspective of external material manifestation, urban architecture is the intuitive display of the distinctive urban landscape. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out, “Chinese architecture has had a significant influence in the world since ancient times, and together with European architecture and Islamic architecture, it is known as the three major architectural systems. Compared with the other two systems, Chinese architecture has a longer history, a more complete system, and pays more attention to nature and life.” This requires us to fully implement the architectural policy of “applicability, economy, greenness, and aesthetics,” encourage, support, and guide urban architectural design to uphold fundamental principles and break new ground, and promote urban architecture to better highlight Chinese aesthetics and Chinese style while better integrating modern elements and contemporary trends. Effectively strengthen the management of urban architectural design, combine the city’s functional positioning and cultural characteristics, adopt unique architectural styles and materials, create architectural works with high recognizability, and form urban architecture with distinct characteristics and unique temperament. Further strengthen the control and guiding role of urban planning, improve the urban landscape management system, and promote the realization of functional composite, moderate density, varied heights, and interwoven blue and green spaces. From the perspective of internal spiritual manifestation, the urban spirit is the soul of the distinctive urban landscape, highlighting the distinctive landscape of a city. On the basis of accurately grasping the scientific connotation and basic characteristics of the urban spirit, we should focus on the city’s historical inheritance and cultural construction, actively explore effective ways to shape the urban spirit, vigorously promote the formation of ideological concepts, civilized trends, and behavioral norms that meet the requirements of the times, and strive to create an urban spirit that highlights cultural heritage and unique temperament, providing spiritual impetus for promoting connotative urban development.

塑造城市特色风貌。习近平总书记指出，“城市特色风貌是城市外在形象和精神内质的有机统一，是自然地理环境、经济社会因素、居民生产生活方式等长期积淀形成的城市文化特征”。城市特色风貌内蕴着城市的精气神，彰显着城市的特色，决定着城市的品位，是以文化建设助推城市内涵式发展的关键所在。从内容和特点来看，城市特色风貌有外在的物质展现和内在的精神展现两个方面。以文化建设助推城市内涵式发展，加快塑造城市特色风貌，需要从外在物质展现和内在精神展现两个方面综合施策。从外在的物质展现来看，城市建筑是城市特色风貌的直观展现。习近平总书记指出，“中国建筑自古以来在世界上就具有重大影响，同欧洲建筑、伊斯兰建筑并称为世界三大建筑体系。相对于另外两大体系，中国建筑历史更加悠久、体系更加完整、更加注重自然和生活”。这就要求我们全面贯彻落实“适用、经济、绿色、美观”的建筑方针，鼓励支持引导城市建筑设计守正创新，推动城市建筑既更好地彰显中华美学和中国风范，又更好地融入现代元素和时代风尚。切实加强城市建筑设计管理，结合城市的功能定位和文化特色，采用独特的建筑风格和材料，打造具有高辨识度的建筑作品，形成各具特色和独具气质的城市建筑。进一步强化城市规划的管控和引导作用，完善城市风貌管理制度，推动实现功能复合、密度适中、高低错落、蓝绿交织。从内在的精神展现来看，城市精神是城市特色风貌的灵魂所在，彰显着一个城市的特色风貌。我们要在准确把握城市精神的科学内涵和基本特征基础上，着眼于城市历史传承和文化建设，积极探索塑造城市精神的有效途径，大力推动形成与时代要求相适应的思想观念、文明风尚、行为规范，倾力打造彰显文化底蕴和独特气质的城市精神，为推动城市内涵式发展提供精神动力。

Enriching the spiritual and cultural life of the city. The city is not only a place for citizens to live, but also their spiritual home. Citizens’ ideological and cultural conditions, such as moral concepts, values, ways of thinking, scientific literacy, cultural cultivation, and emotional beliefs, are a barometer of the level of citizens’ spiritual and cultural life and a display of the effectiveness of urban cultural construction. Enriching the spiritual and cultural life of the city is an inherent requirement for promoting connotative urban development through cultural construction. To promote connotative urban development through cultural construction, it is necessary to continuously enrich the spiritual and cultural life of the city, effectively improve the quality and efficiency of urban public cultural services, and comprehensively enhance the city’s cultural soft power. We must adhere to the people-centered development philosophy, insist that people’s cities are built for the people, take meeting the growing multi-level spiritual and cultural life needs of citizens as the starting point and落脚点 [3]3 The Chinese term 落脚点 (luòjiǎo diǎn) literally means “foothold” or “point of landing,” but in this political context it is idiomatically translated as “ultimate goal” or “fundamental purpose.” of urban cultural construction, and ensure that urban cultural construction continuously adapts to the new situation of urban work, the new requirements of urban development, and the new expectations of citizens’ lives. Starting from the actual needs of citizens’ growing multi-level spiritual and cultural life, continuously improve the urban cultural facility network, make full use of digital and intelligent technology to break traditional spatial boundaries, innovate and expand new types of urban public cultural spaces, and build an urban public cultural space system with rich levels, complete functions, and convenient and efficient access. Optimize the supply of urban cultural products, innovate urban cultural formats such as animation, film and television, digital art, and creative design, promote the integrated development of urban culture with tourism, science and technology, sports, etc., and enable citizens to enjoy a more substantial, richer, and higher-quality spiritual and cultural life. Take multiple measures and adopt a multi-pronged approach, closely integrate the cultivation and practice of core socialist values with the promotion of the urban spirit, work hard on implementation, detail, and small matters, continuously improve citizens’ scientific literacy, cultural cultivation, civilized quality, and the level of urban civilization, promote the prosperity and development of urban culture, and build a civilized city that advocates virtue and goodness.

丰富城市精神文化生活。城市既是市民的生活居所，也是市民的精神家园。市民的道德观念、价值理念、思维方式、科学素质、文化素养和情感信仰等思想文化状况，是市民精神文化生活水平高低的晴雨表和城市文化建设成效的显示器。丰富城市精神文化生活是以文化建设助推城市内涵式发展的内在要求。以文化建设助推城市内涵式发展，需要不断丰富城市精神文化生活，切实提高城市公共文化服务质量和效能，全面提升城市文化软实力。必须坚持以人民为中心的发展思想，坚持人民城市为人民，将满足市民日益增长的多层次精神文化生活需求作为城市文化建设的出发点和落脚点，使城市文化建设不断顺应城市工作新形势、城市发展新要求、市民生活新期待。从市民日益增长的多层次精神文化生活的实际需要出发，不断完善城市文化设施网络，充分利用数智技术打破传统空间界限，创新拓展新型城市公共文化空间，构建层次丰富、功能完备、便捷高效的城市公共文化空间体系。优化城市文化产品供给，创新动漫、影视、数字艺术、创意设计等城市文化业态，推动城市文化与旅游、科技、体育等融合发展，让市民享有更加充实、更为丰富、更高品位的精神文化生活。多措并举、多管齐下，把培育和践行社会主义核心价值观同弘扬城市精神紧密结合起来，在落实落细落小上下功夫，不断提升市民科学素质、文化素养、文明素质和城市文明程度，促进城市文化繁荣发展，建设崇德向善的文明城市。

(Author: Liu Wugen, specially appointed researcher at the Beijing Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, Vice Dean and Professor of the School of Marxism at China Agricultural University)

（作者：刘武根，系北京市习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想研究中心特约研究员，中国农业大学马克思主义学院副院长、教授）