SHENZHEN authorities will set aside 2.1 square kilometers of land for housing development, double last year’s figure, yesterday’s Daily Sunshine reported.

The annual planned land supply for housing over the past four years has been about 1 square kilometer, the report said. Increasing the supply can help cool the property market and ensure the healthy development of the real estate sector, experts say.

A total of 18 square kilometers of land will be developed this year, according to a land use plan that has just been approved by the municipal government. Nearly 5 square kilometers of land will be given over to industrial use for 665 projects related to public facilities and transportation.

Renovation of urban villages and old industrial zones will also be a focus this year, according to the land use plan devised by the municipal planning bureau.

The municipal government will continue to supply more affordable apartments for low-income families, according to the Daily Sunshine report. Officials at the municipal planning bureau said they would review real estate projects before work begins to ensure that apartments smaller than 90 square meters account for more than 70 percent of those built in each project.

From June to December last year, the municipal planning bureau approved the construction of apartments with a construction area of 2.02 million square meters, of which 1.47 square meters, or 21,109 apartments, were for apartments smaller than 90 square meters, 73 percent of the total construction area.

During a meeting held at the municipal planning bureau Monday, Mayor Xu Zongheng said efforts should be made to use precious land resources to the maximum so as to solve the problem of scarce land in the face of the city’s rapid economic development.

The mayor also urged the planning bureau to study how to guarantee that all taxpayers have fair access to public facilities and public services.

(SD News)