A seminar to discuss innovation in urban development was held in the Xi'an-Xianyang New Area in Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province.

Officials, real estate businessmen and urban design and planning experts exchanged ideas on urban development at the meeting on Saturday.

Wang Jun, executive deputy director of the Xi'an-Xianyang New Area's administrative committee, said the healthy, orderly, sustainable development of cities in China has become a hot topic of public concern.

Urbanization in the past 30 years not only provided economic development, job opportunities and high-quality living standards, but has also brought problems of continuous expansion, which have stretched environmental and land resources, resulting in traffic congestion, air pollution and inefficiency.

Wang said the Xi'an-Xianyang New Area, a key urban area to be built with central government approval, has tried hard to avoid these problems during its urban design and construction to better save land, and protect the environment.

The new area was listed as a key construction area in West China by the State Council in February. Its overall development plan shows the total area of land for urban construction will be 272 sq km and the population will reach 2.36 million by the end of 2020.