20 16, the characteristic town rose to the national level and became a new model of market-oriented innovation and entrepreneurship development. Its essence is the problem of industrial agglomeration, upgrading and cultivation under the concept of integrated development of production and city. The difference lies in the cultural IP construction of characteristic towns, realizing the integrated development of industry, culture, tourism and life. Due to China's vast territory, different economic backgrounds and natural resources, different provinces have different definitions and development models of characteristic towns.

The characteristic town originated from abroad, which refers to a small town with certain characteristics, including entertainment, history and culture, folk customs and so on. Such as "perfume town" in Grasse, France, and "fund town" in Greenwich, USA. At present, the "characteristic towns" referred to in China originated from the practice of Zhejiang Province, and appeared in various forms such as urban renewal, small town transformation and industrial park upgrading, which is a useful exploration of Zhejiang's development model under the new economic normal.