China, People's Republic of : Xinjiang Tacheng Border Cities and Counties Development Project

Agriculture, natural resources and rural development / Water-based natural resources management

Transport / Urban public transport

Water and other urban infrastructure and services / Urban policy, institutional and capacity development - Urban water supply

Located in the northwest of the PRC, XUAR is a border area linking the PRC to Central Asia. It covers almost one-sixth of the total area of the country. In 2011, its population was approximately 22.1 million (about 1.5% of the population of the PRC), 60% of which comprises 36 ethnic minority groups, the largest portion of these being Uygur. In 2011, XUAR's gross domestic product (GDP) was CNY657 billion (about 1.3% of the total GDP of the PRC). XUAR's GDP per capita at CNY30,000 was below the PRC average of CNY35,000. In 2011, the per capita disposable income of urban households in XUAR was CNY15,514 ($2,463), which was the second lowest among all the PRC provinces.

Economic reforms have been slow to reach XUAR and it remains one of the less-developed regions of the PRC. To spur economic growth of the Western Region, including XUAR, the government launched in 2000 the National Strategy for Development of the West, a plan that aims to stimulate economic development and raise the living standard of the population of the western provinces of the PRC. Its development strategy focuses on its potential role in, and contribution to, the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Program. As a result of the ongoing economic development, XUAR has experienced rapid urbanization. The increasing urban population, industrialization, and economic development will continue to increase the demand for urban infrastructure services such as roads as well as water supply, wastewater management, central heating, and solid waste management. The road transport and road network is the main mode of transportation in the cities. Rapid vehicular and traffic growth have placed increasing pressure on the existing road network and its capacity expansion. Rapid urbanization also results in heavier pollution and poses great pressure on the residential living environment.

Tacheng Prefecture is located in the northwest of XUAR. It has a total area of 104,500 square kilometers (km2) and shares a 480-kilometer (km)-long border with Kazakhstan. In addition to Tacheng City, the prefecture comprises six counties: E'min, Tuoli, Yumin, Hoboksar Mongol Autonomous County, Shawan, and Wusu. At the start of 2012 the total population of Tacheng Prefecture was 965,000 with an urban proportion of 49%. Of this total population, ethnic minority groups comprised 442,000, or 46%, and the total number of registered poor was 60,366, or 16%. At the same time, the permanent urban populations of the cities of Tacheng, E'min, Tuoli, and Yumin were 91,000, 40,800, 32,000, and 14,600, respectively.

All cities of Tacheng Prefecture are experiencing a significant and rapid growth in population resulting from national urbanization policies and the demand for labor in emerging processing industries and in other economic activities spurred by an increasing trade with Kazakhstan. In recent years Tacheng Prefecture has also been experiencing robust GDP growth. This trend which results partly from Tacheng's growing importance as a border trading hub, presents the prefecture with a positive economic outlook. However, Tacheng Prefecture suffers from various urban environmental problems due to its harsh natural environment, exacerbated by a lack of investment in key urban infrastructure and a high demographic pressure. These factors have led to a high level of environmental degradation and are increasingly affecting the living conditions of the local population. The cities of Tacheng, E'min, Tuol, and Yumin are not equipped to fully develop the economic opportunities and facilitate an efficient employment shift from agriculture to the secondary and tertiary sectors. Among the challenges that limit the socioeconomic development of Tacheng City and the county cities of E'min, Tuoli, and Yumin are (i) the need to strengthen and expand the urban infrastructure, namely water supply, sewerage and wastewater management, central district heating, and roads; and (ii) the requirement to facilitate economic growth, thus providing employment opportunities and raised standards of living. These two priorities will be targeted by the proposed project.

Approved under its last urban development master plan, Tacheng City has advanced plans for a new residential and industrial area. Construction of the initial stage commenced in mid 2012 and, on completion, the Baktu Liaota New Area will eventually cover 85.8 km2 and will be home to 120,000 people by 2030. The residential area will extend to 43.8 km2, and its population will consist mainly of migrants from rural areas in Tacheng Prefecture and current residents from older areas of Tacheng City. The industrial park element will serve the Baktu Land Port and will mainly target local industries such as equipment manufacturing, logistics and transport, and the processing of mineral and agricultural resources. Tacheng City is crossed by the Kalangguer River which carries snowmelt and storm flows from the mountains to the north. Throughout the city limits, the river remains unrestrained, the bed and banks being naturally formed in the alluvial cobbles and silts. Areas of the city experience seasonal flooding and significant quantities of debris and silt are carried downstream leading to an undermining of riparian lands and structural damage. Furthermore, the national standard for flood protection for cities of the population size of Tacheng is Class IV yet in the present situation flooding has occurred during 4 of the past 9 years. Projected short-term expansion will result in city population numbers exceeding the Class IV threshold and Class III annual flood risk protection then applies.

The county cities of E'min, Tuoli, and Yumin suffer from a lack of investment in key urban infrastructure, namely road and utilities networks. This fact, coupled with the recent increase of migration from neighboring rural areas, is seriously affecting the living conditions of local populations. Roads built during the past two decades have deteriorated due to the extremes in climate and to heavy and increasing traffic and are thus in need of reconstruction while others have remained little more than narrow, unlit, and extremely uneven dirt tracks. They do not provide adequate access to existing properties nor to areas which are planned for future residential and commercial development. In addition, the rapid growth in motor vehicle ownership has outstripped road space, resulting in greater city congestion and air pollution. These roads also lack utility service mains provision to adjacent housing and commercial properties. Due to recent expansion of economic activity, namely mineral and food processing industries, E'min City's population is due to increase from the existing 40,000 to 55,000 by 2020. However, at present, 40% of the population remains unserved by a public water supply or sewerage service, relying on on-plot boreholes and cess pits. In Tuoli and Yumin cities the road networks are inadequate to meet the present-day needs. While majority of existing roads are substandard and in need of reconstruction, traffic growth has far outstripped road space and is leading to significant increases in the levels of GHG emissions and air pollution. In accordance with adopted masterplans, city road development is required to serve both existing and new residential, commercial and industrial areas. It is important to note that these circumstances take place in populations with considerable low income levels, where registered poor in E'min, Tuoli and Yumin county cities comprise 16%, 17.8% and 25.6% of total populations, respectively.

The main stakeholders include XUAR regional government agencies, TMG's development and reform commission, real estate administration, finance and housing and construction, water resources, land resources, and environmental protection, planning, transportation, public utilities, municipal management, public health, civil affairs, poverty alleviation bureaus, private companies providing work forces, design institutes, project affected people, and project beneficiaries including service customers, residents near the river and neighborhoods, as well as ethnic minorities in the city centers and in peri-urban areas, as well as new migrants to the cities.

The proposed participation strategy during PPTA will focus on identifying key stakeholders and communicating how they may be affected by the proposed project. Additionally, information will be collected to identify ethnically and religiously appropriate ways of community-based sanitation efforts.

The PPTA took a two phase approach of consulting services to efficiently use the limited loan processing time. Phase 1 was implemented while the selection of consulting services of Phase 2 was underway.

In Phase 1, three individual experts with a total of 3.5 person-months (1.5 international and 2.0 person-months national) were engaged through the individual consultant selection. In Phase 2 an international consulting firm and individual consultants with total consulting inputs of 47.0 person-months (15.0 person-months international and 32.0 person-months national) were engaged on the basis of the quality- and cost-based selection method, with a quality-cost ratio of 90:10, using simplified technical proposal procedure, in accordance with ADB's Guidelines on the Use of Consultants (2013, as amended from time to time).

To assist in the startup of the ensuing project, a national individual consultant for procurement and initial project management was engaged for 3 person-months. The consultant conducted training for the Tacheng Prefecture Government and the implementing agencies on project implementation before the engagement of the project implementation consulting service.