Table Of ContentResearch Series on the Chinese Dream
and China’s Development Path
Houkai Wei
Urbanization
in China
The Path to Harmony and Prosperity
Research Series on the Chinese Dream
’
and China s Development Path
Project Director
Xie Shouguang, President, Social Sciences Academic Press
Series editors
Li Yang, Vice president, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China
Li Peilin, Vice president, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China
Academic Advisors
CaiFang,GaoPeiyong,LiLin,LiQiang,MaHuaide,PanJiahua,PeiChanghong,
Qi Ye, Wang Lei, Wang Ming, Zhang Yuyan, Zheng Yongnian, Zhou Hong
Drawing on a large body of empirical studies done over the last two decades, the
Research Series on the Chinese Dream and China’s Development Path seeks to
provideitsreaderswithin-depthanalysesofthepastandpresent,andforecastsfor
thefuturecourseofChina’sdevelopment.ThankstotheadoptionofSocialismwith
Chinese characteristics, and the implementation of comprehensive reform and
opening, China has made tremendous achievements in areas such as political
reform,economicdevelopment,andsocialconstruction,andismakinggreatstrides
towardstherealizationoftheChinesedreamofnationalrejuvenation.Inadditionto
presenting a detailed account of many of these achievements, the authors also
discusswhatlessonsothercountriescanlearnfromChina’sexperience.Thisseries
willbeaninvaluablecompaniontoeveryresearcherwhoistryingtogainadeeper
understanding of the development model, path and experience unique to China.
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/13571
Houkai Wei
Urbanization in China
The Path to Harmony and Prosperity
123
Houkai Wei
ChineseAcademy of Social Sciences
Beijing,China
Sponsored bythe Chinese Fundfor theHumanities andSocial Sciences
ISSN 2363-6866 ISSN 2363-6874 (electronic)
Research Series onthe ChineseDream andChina’s Development Path
ISBN978-981-13-1407-0 ISBN978-981-13-1408-7 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1408-7
JointlypublishedwithSocialSciencesAcademicPress,Beijing,China
Theprintededitionisnotfor sale intheMainlandof China.Customersfromthe Mainland ofChina
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Series Preface
SinceChina’sreformandopeningbeganin1978,thecountryhascomealongway
on the path of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, under the leadership of the
Communist Party of China. Over thirty years of reform, efforts and sustained
spectacular economic growth have turned China into the world’s second-largest
economy and wrought many profound changes in the Chinese society. These his-
torically significant developments have been garnering increasing attention from
scholars, governments, and the general public alike around the world since the
1990s,whenthenewestwaveofChinastudiesbegantogathersteam.Someofthe
hottest topics have included the so-called China miracle, Chinese phenomenon,
Chineseexperience,Chinesepath,andtheChinesemodel.Homegrownresearchers
havesoonfollowedsuit.Alreadyhugelyproductive,thisvibrantfieldisputtingout
a large number of books each year, with Social Sciences Academic Press alone
having published hundreds of titles on a wide range of subjects.
Because most of these books have been written and published in Chinese;
however,readershiphasbeenlimitedoutsideChina—evenamongmanywhostudy
China—forwhomEnglishisstillthelinguafranca.Thislanguagebarrier hasbeen
animpedimenttoeffortsbyacademia,businesscommunities,andpolicy-makersin
othercountriestoformathoroughunderstandingofcontemporaryChina,ofwhatis
distinct about China’s past and present may mean not only for her future but also
forthefutureoftheworld.Theneedtoremovesuchanimpedimentisbothrealand
urgent, and the Research Series on the Chinese Dream and China’s Development
Path is my answer to the call.
This series features some of the most notable achievements from the last 20
years by scholars in China in a variety of research topics related to reform and
opening.Theyincludeboththeoreticalexplorationsandempiricalstudiesandcover
economy,society,politics,law,culture,andecology;thesixareasinwhichreform
and opening policies have had the deepest impact and farthest-reaching conse-
quences for the country. Authors for the series have also tried to articulate their
visions of the “Chinese Dream” and how the country can realize it in these fields
and beyond.
v
vi SeriesPreface
AlloftheeditorsandauthorsfortheResearchSeriesontheChineseDreamand
China’s Development Path are both longtime students of reform and opening and
recognized authorities in their respective academic fields. Their credentials and
expertise lend credibility to these books, each of which has been subjected to a
rigorouspeer review processfor inclusion inthe series. As part of theReform and
DevelopmentProgramundertheStateAdministrationofPress,Publication,Radio,
Film, and Television of the People’s Republic of China, the series is published by
Springer, a Germany-based academic publisher of international repute, and dis-
tributedoverseas.IamconfidentthatitwillhelpfillalacunainstudiesofChinain
the era of reform and opening.
Xie Shouguang
Preface
China has created a series of economic miracles since reform and opening up
began. These miracles are primarily embodied in three aspects. First, China has
enjoyed high economic growth for more than three decades, with an annual gross
domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 9.8% between 1979 and 2013. Second,
China has managed to lift about 500 million Chinese citizens out of poverty over
thepast35years,asignificantcontributiontoglobaleffortsagainstpoverty.Third,
urbanization in China is occurring at an unprecedented rate; China’s urban popu-
lation as a percentage of its total population, also known as the urbanization rate,
rose from 17.92% in 1978 to 53.73% in 2013, a net increase of 559 million urban
residents.Sustainedhigheconomicgrowth,povertyreductionandlarge-scalerapid
urbanization constitute the three cornerstones of China’s economic miracle and
serve as the three pillars of the Chinese model of economic success.
As demonstrated by the Chinese experience, urbanization is the main driving
forceforsustainedhigheconomicgrowthandpovertyreductioninruralareas.Itis
alsoanimportantapproachtorealizingthe“ChineseDream,”thatis,therevivalof
China. A significant part of the Chinese Dream is to assure equal rights between
urbanandruralresidentsandfreedomofhumanmigration,sothatfarmersareable
to leave the countryside and agricultural work—on a voluntary basis—to pursue
work in cities in non-agricultural sectors and enjoy the benefits of modern urban
life. Achieving these goals will facilitate China’s transition from a largely rural
society into an urban one. This is also a long-held dream of Chinese farmers,
especially rural migrant workers.
Migratingintocitiesandenjoyingurbanlifearealsoadreamoffarmersaround
the world. The global urban population increased from 745 million in 1950 to 3.8
billion in 2014. This corresponds to an increase in urbanization rate from 29.4 to
53.6%. By the end of 2014, the average urbanization rate in developed countries
reached 78.0%, with some of the highest urbanization rates in countries that have
essentially completed the process of urbanization, such as Japan (93%), Australia
(89.3%),Canada(81.6%),theUSA(81.4%),theUK(82.3%),andFrance(79.3%).
vii
viii Preface
In contrast, the average urbanization rate in underdeveloped regions was 48.4%,1
with fast urbanization still taking place. During the process of urbanization, how-
ever,alldevelopingcountrieshavefacedsevereproblems,suchasurbanpoverty,a
large number of slums, and so-called urban diseases.
Moving into cities to enjoy a better, modern urban life has long been a dream of
Chinesefarmers.BeforeChinabeganreformandopeningup,thisdreamcouldonlybe
realizedthroughafewlimitedmeansduetotherestrictivehukousystemorhousehold
registration system. Such means included being hired by a city-based enterprise,
becoming a government official, or attending university. After reform and opening,
China saw a rapid increase in the number of rural migrant workers who moved into
cities to work or do business. In 1983, there were about two million non-local rural
migrant workers across China. This number has steadily risen over the years to 30
millionpeoplein1989,70millionpeoplein1995,104.70millionpeoplein2002,and
166.10 million people as of 2013. The total number of both local and non-local rural
migrant workers has already reached 268.94 million people in China.2
Mostof theseruralmigrantworkerswork and live incitiesand,to a certain extent,
have realized the dream of becoming an urban resident. However, due to existing
institutional limitations, they do not receive the same treatments as urban residents in
terms of political rights, employment, childhood education, medical/health care, and
social security. Moreover, given the low percentage of those who have become regis-
tered city residents, rural migrant workers are still far from integrated into urban life.
Estimatesshowthatbytheendof2012,thepercentageofregisteredcityresidentsamong
ruralmigrantworkersinChinawasonlyabout40%,creatingahugegapbetweenthem
andurbanresidents.3Accordingly,Chinastillhasalongwaytogointermsofhelping
rural migrant workers achieve the dream of becoming a registered city resident.
This dream is not just about allowing Chinese farmers to move into cities, but
moreimportantly,enablingthemtoestablishastable,goodlifesothattheybecome
integrated into urban society and contribute to social harmony. This approach
represents high-quality healthy urbanization. There are three main indicators for
qualifying successful urbanization in China: First is the achievement of an 80%
urbanization rate (80% of the country’s total population living in towns or cities),
whichwouldmarkChina’stransitiontoanadvancedstageofurbansociety.Second
is freedom of human migration, in which rural migrants into cities have equal
access to political rights and social welfare, or in other words, an end to discrim-
ination against rural migrants. The third qualifier is the creation of eco-friendly,
beautiful cities where there are no slums, and citizensare fully employed, affluent,
and happy.
1This is a mid-year figure. Please refer to United Nations, Department of Economic and Social
Affairs,PopulationDivision(2014).WorldUrbanizationProspects:The2014Revision,CD-ROM
Edition.
2TheNationalBureauofStatisticsofChina(NBS),“MigrantWorkersMonitoringSurveyReport
2013,”May12,2014.
3WeiHoukai,SuHongjian,andLiFengtao,“ReportontheStatusoftheHukouurbanizationof
RuralMigrantWorkers,”ChinaEconomicWeekly,March10,2014.
Preface ix
Urbanization is an important approach to realizing the Chinese farmer’s dream
of becoming a registered city resident. In the future, China’s urbanization will
continue at a fast pace for about another two decades. It is expected that the
urbanization rate in China will reach about 60% by the end of 2020, which cor-
responds to an urban population of about 840 million and China’s transition to an
intermediate stage of urban society. By the end of 2030, the urbanization rate in
China is forecast to rise to about 68%, corresponding to an urban population that
exceeds 950 million. Around 2033, it is expected that China will pass the 70%
urbanization rate threshold to transition from an intermediate urbanization stage
representedbyfasturbanizationtoalatestagecharacterizedbyaslowerbutsteady
urbanization rate. By the end of 2040, the urbanization rate inChina isanticipated
toreachabout75%,whichcorrespondstoanurbanpopulationofabout1.3billion
and represents an advanced stage of urban society. By the end of 2050, the
urbanization rate in China will exceed 80%, close to the peak urbanization rate of
85%,whentheurbanizationratewillstarttobecomestable.Thismeansthat,within
three or four decades, the Chinese farmer’s dream of becoming a registered city
resident will be fulfilled—and about 80% of all Chinese will live in eco-friendly
towns or cities where they are fully employed, affluent, and happy.
As a country with a large population, China faces significant rural–urban dif-
ferencesandlimitedavailabilityofresourceslikeenergy,minerals,water,andland.
This means that China should not conduct urbanization in the same way as any
other single country or region, but should take an all-new approach that takes into
account domestic conditions. A new China-specific approach to urbanization is an
importantpartofChina’seffortstodevelopintoauniquesocialistcountry;itisalso
fundamental to building a harmonious and prosperous society and reviving the
nation. Global experience shows that sustainable overallprosperity and the revival
of the nation will be unattainable if China does not achieve high-quality, healthy
urbanization in a well-coordinated manner. Nor will this goal be achieved if hun-
dredsofmillionsoffarmersremaininthecountrysideandifruralmigrantstocities
cannotintegrateintourbansociety.Anew,China-specificapproachtourbanization
isnecessaryfor China tobuilda harmonious andprosperous societyandtorealize
the Chinese Dream.
It is around the aforementioned thread that this book is structured. Chapter 1
provides a history and basic characteristics of urbanization in China, assesses the
current problems and challenges China faces, and reviews China’s previous
urbanization strategies. Chapter 2 presents the concept of “China-Model urban-
ization,” focusing on the scientific basis, various implications, and basic charac-
teristics of the new China-Model approach, as well as its combination with the
concept of “new urbanization.” Chapter 3 analyzes the changes in China’s urban-
ization strategy, with a focus on relevant trends through 2050, as well as the near-
andmid-termobjectivesandmaintasksinthisarea.Chapters4and5explainhow
to conduct scientifically sound China-Model, new urbanization, including redefin-
ing the distribution of city sizes and optimizing the spatial distribution of cities.
Chapter 6 explores how the administrative levels of Chinese cities relate to their
size growth and analyzes how the bias toward administrative centers affects urban
