The Urbanization Process In China And Its Impacts On The Environment

This paper reviews the urbanization process in China during the past decades and gives a prospect for the near future. It is shown, that in a remarkably short period, China increased its urban population to more than 50 percent of the entire population. This rapid urbanization was mainly driven by rural-urban migration in the course of the industrialization process and by the in situ urbanization, as a mainly government related factor. The paper afterwards identifies energy and resources, pollution and land consumption as the major areas where by urbanization caused challenges need to be tackled.

Seminar paper from the year 2015 in the subject Asian studies, grade: 1.0, University of Duisburg-Essen (Institut für Ostasienwissenschaften), language: English, abstract: This paper reviews the urbanization process in China during the past decades and gives a prospect for the near future. It is shown, that in a remarkably short period, China increased its urban population to more than 50 percent of the entire population. This rapid urbanization was mainly driven by rural-urban migration in the course of the industrialization process and by the in situ urbanization, as a mainly government related factor. The paper afterwards identifies energy and resources, pollution and land consumption as the major areas where by urbanization caused challenges need to be tackled.

In the last 30 years, China’s record economic growth lifted half a billion people out of poverty, with rapid urbanization providing abundant labor, cheap land, and good infrastructure. While China has avoided some of the common ills of urbanization, strains are showing as inefficient land development leads to urban sprawl and ghost towns, pollution threatens people’s health, and farmland and water resources are becoming scarce. With China’s urban population projected to rise to about one billion – or close to 70 percent of the country’s population – by 2030, China’s leaders are seeking a more coordinated urbanization process. Urban China is a joint research report by a team from the World Bank and the Development Research Center of China’s State Council which was established to address the challenges and opportunities of urbanization in China and to help China forge a new model of urbanization. The report takes as its point of departure the conviction that China's urbanization can become more efficient, inclusive, and sustainable. However, it stresses that achieving this vision will require strong support from both government and the markets for policy reforms in a number of area. The report proposes six main areas for reform: first, amending land management institutions to foster more efficient land use, denser cities, modernized agriculture, and more equitable wealth distribution; second, adjusting the hukou household registration system to increase labor mobility and provide urban migrant workers equal access to a common standard of public services; third, placing urban finances on a more sustainable footing while fostering financial discipline among local governments; fourth, improving urban planning to enhance connectivity and encourage scale and agglomeration economies; fifth, reducing environmental pressures through more efficient resource management; and sixth, improving governance at the local level.

The achievements of China’s urbanization should not be evaluated solely in terms of adequate infrastructures, but also in their ability to implement sound governance practices to ensure social, environmental and economic development. This book addresses several key challenges faced by Chinese cities, based on the most recent policies and experiments adopted by central and local governments. The contributors offer an interdisciplinary analysis of the urbanization process in China, and examine the following key topics: the institutional foundations of Chinese cities, the legal status of the land, the rural to urban migration, the preservation of the urban heritage and the creation of urban community, and the competitiveness of Chinese cities. They define the current issues and challenges emerging from China’s urbanization. Students and academics of urban studies and related subjects will find the strong theoretical backgrounds to be of use to their research. Policy-makers and other practitioners will benefit from the practical advice and recommendations.

The key challenges facing China in the next two decades derive from the ongoing process of urbanization. China's urbanization rate in 2005 was about 43%. Over the next 10-15 years, it is expected to rise to well over 50%, adding an additional 200 million mainly rural migrants to the current urban population of 560 million. How China copes with such a large migration flow will strongly influence rural-urban inequality, the pace at which urban centers expand their economic performance, and the urban environment. The growing population will necessitate a big push strategy to maintain a high rate of investment in housing and the urban physical infrastructure and urban services. To finance such expansion will require a significant strengthening and diversification of China's financial system. Growing cities will greatly increase consumption of energy and water. Containing this without at the same time constraining the economic performance of cities or the improvement in the standards of living will call for enlightened policies, strategies, careful urban planning, and significant technological advances. This volume identifies the key developments to watch and discusses the policies which would affect the course as well as the fruitfulness of change.

China’s urbanization is one of the great earth-changing phenomena of recent times. The way in which China continues to urbanize will have a critical impact on the world economy, global climate change, international relations and a host of other critical issues. Understanding and responding to China’s urbanization is of paramount importance to everyone. This book represents a unique exploration of the demographic, spatial, economic and social aspects of China’s urban transformation. Based on years of fieldwork and data analysis from different types of cities and towns in every region of China, the authors present a detailed description of how China has urbanized since 1978 and an original theory about the way in which top-down and bottom-up policies have impacted urbanization. They describe China’s on-going urbanization process as a ‘double-dual’ transformation from a planned economy to a more market-oriented one and from a concern with the quantity to the quality of urbanization. In doing so, the authors provide the most comprehensive and up-to-date book on Chinese urbanization to date. This scholarly study will appeal to academics and practitioners, including professors and postgraduate students of urban studies, planning, geography, Asian studies, and other social science disciplines and professional fields concerned with cities and urban development. Professionals involved in international development, particularly in China and elsewhere in Asia, will be particularly interested in the book.

Following a research design of "e;phenomenal description a' theoretical analysis a' model construction a' empirical test a' policy suggestion"e;, this book aims at proposing "e;National Resources and Environment"e; (NRE) -constrained urbanization theory and establishing a measurement system for appropriate level of urbanization, which will serve as theoretical and empirical bases for measurement of appropriate level of urbanization under NRE constraints. Based on systematic review of previous researches on NRE-constrained urbanization at home and abroad, this book first summarizes the mechanism and rules of NRE-constrained urbanization with reference to theories of Wooden Barrel, Climbing Hill, Migration, Economic Growth and Ecology. By using the theory of endogenous economic growth and the theory of constraints, it further deduces the model of "e;resource drag"e; in urbanization caused by shortage of resources and environment and that of "e;resource curse"e; in urbanization caused by resource endowment respectively. The appropriate NRE-constrained urbanization is deconstructed into four sub-objectives including the level, speed, structure and scale, and thus a measurement model is proposed. Based on the analysis structure of NRE-constrained urbanization, major NRE effects and key constraint factors of NRE on the urbanization of Jiangxi province are studied. Econometric analysis of panel data is also conducted to examine various effects on the process of urbanization. By using theories and models of NRE-constrained urbanization, this book examines the "e;resource drag"e; and "e;resource curse"e; in Jiangxi's urbanization; deduces the equilibrium level of NRE-constrained urbanization in Jiangxi by using the econometric model and compares the actual compatibility of the level and speed of urbanization in Jiangxi during 1978-2008 by using environmental capacity constrained Logistic model. It further examines the compatibility of scale and space distribution in Jiangxi's urbanization and calculates optimal city scale for Jiangxi by using the measurement model of the structure of NRE-constrained urbanization. At last, based on the aforementioned analysis, this book summarizes main findings and future prospects of the research, and provides policy suggestions on promoting the appropriate process of urbanization. The research aims at the mechanism and rules of urbanization progress under constraint of the NRE based on systematic summary of the effect and constraint of NRE on urbanization. A measurement model for the appropriate progress of urbanization is proposed based on the analysis of NRE-constrained urbanization theories. Meanwhile, the general conclusion will be applied to typical areas and tested by an empirical study, so as to test and develop relevant theories, and give a comprehensive evaluation on the coordination of urbanization with NRE. In this way, lessons can be learned and summarized for similar regions to advance urbanization and utilize NRE. More specifically, the objectives of this book involve: (1) to reveal the mechanism and rules of NRE-constrained urbanization theoretically; (2) to propose a measurement model and methods for monitoring the appropriate progress of urbanization under constraint of NRE; (3) to conduct an empirical study on Jiangxi Province, evaluate its proper NRE-constrained urbanization process from the aspects of level, speed, structure and scale during "e;11th Five Year Plan"e; by quantitative evaluation on Jiangxi's urbanization, NRE, and thus giving suggestions for policy making.

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.