The Role Of The State In China S Urban System Development

This book investigates how the state intervenes in the urban system in China in the post-reform period. To do so, it constructs a conceptual framework based on the perspective of political hierarchy, suggesting that the state power is hierarchically organized in China’s urban system, leading to variations in urban government capacities among cities. The book reveals that the state has largely achieved the goal of its national urban system policy to “strictly control the scale of large cities” resulting in the under-development of the large cities if they are mainly developing according to the market force. However, this has become less influential with the advances toward a market economy. Further, state regulation and policies have reduced the gaps between cities at the top and bottom of the urban hierarchy. The book argues that the Urban Administrative System (UAS) is an important tool for the state to regulate urban system development, and the administrative level has a significant effect on urban growth performance. It contends that China’s urban system is strongly shaped by the omnipresent state through the UAS, which hierarchically differentiates between the urban growth processes. By controlling the administrative-level upgrading process, the state can prevent the size and number of cities from increasing too rapidly. This theoretical and empirical enquiry highlights the fact that the hierarchical power relations among cities and the resulting variations in urban government capacities are the key to understanding the role of the state in China’s urban system development in the post-reform period.

This book investigates how the state intervenes in the urban system in China in the post-reform period. To do so, it constructs a conceptual framework based on the perspective of political hierarchy, suggesting that the state power is hierarchically organized in China's urban system, leading to variations in urban government capacities among cities. The book reveals that the state has largely achieved the goal of its national urban system policy to "strictly control the scale of large cities" resulting in the under-development of the large cities if they are mainly developing according to the market force. However, this has become less influential with the advances toward a market economy. Further, state regulation and policies have reduced the gaps between cities at the top and bottom of the urban hierarchy. The book argues that the Urban Administrative System (UAS) is an important tool for the state to regulate urban system development, and the administrative level has a significant effect on urban growth performance. It contends that China's urban system is strongly shaped by the omnipresent state through the UAS, which hierarchically differentiates between the urban growth processes. By controlling the administrative-level upgrading process, the state can prevent the size and number of cities from increasing too rapidly. This theoretical and empirical enquiry highlights the fact that the hierarchical power relations among cities and the resulting variations in urban government capacities are the key to understanding the role of the state in China's urban system development in the post-reform period. .

The trajectory and logic of urban development in post-Mao China have been shaped and defined by the contention between domestic and global capital, central and local state and social actors of different class status and endowment. This urban transformation process of historic proportion entails new rules for distribution and negotiation, novel perceptions of citizenship, as well as room for unprecedented spontaneity and creativity. Based on original research by leading experts, this book offers an updated and nuanced analysis of the new logic of urban governance and its implications.

Since 2002 the United Nations Development Programme has been running 'City Planning, Management and Development in the 21st Century' across China, a project that focuses on five pilot cities (Guizhou, Taiyuan, Liuzhou, Meishan and Sanmenxia) to help analysis urban development trends and problems across Chinas as it undertakes rapid urbanisation. This detailed and authoritative report outlines the key findings from this research project which was led by Shao Yisheng, Vice President and Professor from China Academy of Urban Planning & Design. Whilst fully acknowledging the great achievements and spectacular levels of development, the purpose of this report is to outline the faults and contradictions that have proved central to China's accelerated urbanisation. These have been gathered into seven subject sections within the report: natural resources; living environment; image projects (prestige or 'showy' construction projects); public safety; social stratification; public finance; public policies. An in-depth analysis of these problem areas and their origins is supplied by the leading members of the research team. In addition, the authors propose solutions to each problem utilising innovative concepts, systems, policies, planning systems and management techniques. China's Urban Development: Critiques and Observations offers truly unique and distinctive views on China's urban changes, both positive and negative. It will prove extremely interesting to professionals, academics and students involved in urban development and planning outside of China, plus experts engaged in the urban economy, engineering, construction, urban sociology and political science. The key editors and contributors are Shao Yisheng, Vice President and Professor from China Academy of Urban Planning & Design, plus Shi Nan, Secretary General and Professor from Urban Planning Society of China. Additional contributors include senior academics from the Department for Industry, Transportation & Trade, Research Office of the State Council, and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Radically reoriented under market reform, Chinese cities present both the landscapes of the First and Third World, and are increasingly playing a critical role in the country’s economic development. Yet, radical marketization co-exists with the ever-presence of state control. Exploring the interaction of China’s market development, state regulation and the resulting transformation and creation of new urban spaces, this innovative, key book provides the first integrated treatment of China’s urban development in the dynamic market transition. Focusing on land and housing development, the authors, all renowned authorities in this field, show how the market has been ‘created’ under post-reform urban conditions, and examine ‘the state in action’, highlighting how changing urban governance towards local entrepreneurial state facilitates market formation. A significant, original contribution, they highlight the key actors and their institutional contexts. China has been very successful in using urban land development as an economic growth engine, and here the authors investigate complex interactions between the market and state in creating this new urbanism. Taking a unique perspective, they marshal original ideas and empirical work based on field studies and collaborative work with colleagues in China.

This book explores the process of urbanization and the profound challenges to China’s urban governance. Economic productivity continues to rise, with increasingly uneven distribution of prosperity and accumulation of wealth. The emergence of individual autonomy including demands for more freedom and participation in the governing process has asked for a change of the traditional top-down control system. The vertical devolution between the central and local states and horizontal competition among local governments produced an uneasy political dynamics in Chinese cities. Many existing publications analyze the urban transformation in China but few focuses on the governance challenges. It is critical to investigate China’s urbanization, paying special attention to its challenges to urban governance. This edited volume fills this gap by organizing ten chapters of distinctive urban development and governance issues.

This book examines the nature and internal dynamics of China’s urban construction land (UCL) development, drawing insights from the recently developed theory of regional political ecology. Based on the author’s original research, it identifies two different types of UCL development in China, namely top-down, formal development in the legal and regulated domain, and spontaneous and informal, bottom-up development in the semi-legal, poorly regulated gray domain. Presenting a systematic analysis and comparison, it reveals a scale and speed of informal land development no less significant than that of formal land development, although informal land development tends to be scattered, pervasive, difficult to track, and largely overlooked in research and policy formation. Contrary to the popular perception of the peasantry as passive victims of land development, this book uncovers an intriguing dynamic in which the peasantry has played an increasingly (pro)active role in developing their rural land for urban uses in informal markets. Further, based on an investigation of UCL development in Beijing and Shenzhen, it shows an interesting trajectory in which the uneven growth and utilization of UCL are contingent upon the various developmental milieus in different places. China’s land institutions, based on an urban–rural dual land system, are not conducive to the ultimate goal of saving and efficiently utilizing land. Accordingly, an urban–rural integrated land market and management system is highly advisable. The theoretical and empirical enquiry presented challenges the perceived notion of China’s UCL development as the outcome of market demand and state supply. Further, it argues for an inclusive treatment of the informality that has characterized urbanization in many developing countries, and for a reassessment of the role played by the peasantry in land-based urbanization.

This book answers the call for New Urbanization, and proposes a “5+9+6” national spatial layout plan for the urbanization of the 770 major cities in China. This macro pattern is based on a few major metropolises at the center, and other cities supporting and benefitting from these metropolises to form a pyramid-like urban hierarchical system. The book also presents a comprehensive regionalization plan for China’s New Urbanization and strategic approaches to improving the quality of this New Urbanization. Currently, China is aggressively promoting a so-called New Urbanization, which has been regarded as one of the primary ways to build a moderately prosperous society, to address critical issues related to agriculture, rural regions and farmers, to expand domestic demand and promote industrial innovation, and to realize the China Dream. From a systematic perspective and using recently released urban data, the authors analyze the current status of New Urbanization in China and also investigate the various potential problems and obstacles to its concrete implementation. Based on the analyses and investigations, the authors propose strategic directions, paths and basic principles for China’s New Urbanization. In addition, they clearly identify the three different modes of New Urbanization, namely, the general mode, differentiated mode, and gradual mode. Today, many scholars argue that China’s urban regions are experiencing a highly unsustainable mode of development. Chinese cities are heavily burdened by the so-called “urban diseases,” which are characterized e.g. by congested traffic, polluted water and air, and a lack of open and green spaces. Traditional urbanization, which primarily focuses on economic development, must be fundamentally reformed. New Urbanization, which focuses on integrated economic development, social integration and space/environmental sustainability, or simply put, on the quality of urbanization, has been called for to provide a potential “cure” for these urban diseases. Due to the vastness of China’s population and its rapidly growing economic, political and cultural relationships with the rest of the world, the book demonstrates that the success of this New Urbanization is critical not only to the future of urban China, but also the future of urbanization worldwide. The book offers a valuable reference work for all researchers, graduate student and policy makers interested in China’s urban development.