Preface

The scale and the rapidity of urbanisation in China is one of the most astonishing and significant phenomena of our times. As late as 2008 the Chinese government was projecting an urbanisation rate of 50 per cent by 2040 but by the end of 2017 the National Bureau of Statistics of China reported that the rate had already hit 59 per cent.

It is easy to be overwhelmed by the numbers but they tell only the smallest part of the story. Behind the numbers are the scale of economic development, intense discussion and elaborate government policies on the nature of urbanisation, and the shaping of the city environment itself. To trace the path of China’s urbanisation is not only important in itself but it has global implications. The size and growth of China affects everyone and the scale and dynamism of urban development in China is the touchstone for the nature of the city in this century.

China combines cutting-edge technology and sophisticated infrastructure on the one hand and an extensive less-developed hinterland on the other. This makes it a potential model for advanced economies and those countries at much earlier stages of industrialisation, urbanisation, and modernisation. China’s urban life is the contemporary reality of the earlier concept of uneven and combined development.

Traditional concerns such as urban density, green-and brownfield siting, and the relation of suburbs (periphery) to business and historic centres (core) are all under review and reconfiguration. These questions are of the most immediate interest and the book will be, we hope, of most practical use to the wide range of professionals working in the urban field in all, or any, of its aspects.

The book is organised to lead the reader through the developmental process China has undergone. Chapter 1 records China’s urbanisation from the birth of the People’s Republic in 1949, and simultaneously records the challenges faced in this period and the emergence of strategies, policies, and responses. Here it becomes clear that Chinese policymakers came to realise that a narrow definition of urbanisation as industrialisation alone was inadequate. By the early years of this century a much more rounded set of goals summarised urban development: economic efficiency, environmental protection, and social justice.

The next section of the book attempts to elucidate the policies designed to implement this complex set of aspirations. Chapter 2 deals with the relationship between the function of the city economically and its spatial configuration. This is a story of the shift from the planned economy to a more open economic framework beginning in 1978. This led to industrial zoning and the shifting of much heavy industry from urban centres.

Chapter 3 examines the ownership of land and property relations, the distinction between urban and rural landholding and its implications for urban growth. It addresses the reforms made to accommodate the scale of economic development and urban growth. An immediate consequence of city growth is the need to upgrade and expand community and social provision. In Chapter 4 we look specifically at community involvement in the governance of cities especially at neighbourhood and street level.

In Chapter 5 Austin Williams investigates the impact of ecological thinking on the Chinese urban environment and specifically at the definition and practices of China’s ‘eco-cities’.

Chapter 6 marks a transition in the text and has two features. It first reviews the literature that had the most impact on urban thinking in China and which, until recently, set the guidelines for urban practice. Second, it reports, in detail, the results of a major survey undertaken by ourselves, and colleagues at the Chinese Executive Leadership Academy Pudong (CELAP). This establishes an urbanisation index for 289 Chinese cities. The chapter demonstrates the continued importance of quantitative analysis in Chinese urban thinking but also the growing awareness of what we would call issues of ‘liveability’.

Each of the chapters (7 to 12) in the final section of the book is a case study of one Chinese city. The factors of historical development, spatial planning, economic priorities, infrastructure, social provision, and cultural heritage are given specific and concrete expression. These chapters give examples of exactly how the framework and priorities of urban development work.

There is no way that any six given cities can be fully representative of the Chinese experience. The six examples are not, however, arbitrary or random. The cities give a range of size, geographical and historical position, economic differentiation, spatial planning, and other circumstances to highlight the most significant trends and priorities identified. The pace of Chinese urban development is a continual challenge to anyone attempting to present the current situation. We hope that this text provides the necessary framework and trajectory of this transformative process and that our readers will better understand the environment in which they may come to work.