Chinese Urban Transformation

1The Process and Orientation of China’s Urbanisation

Urbanisation follows inexorably from economic development and successful urbanisation is a prerequisite for both further economic development and social and environmental well-being. China’s urbanisation in the period following the foundation of the People’s Republic in 1949 was closely associated with the single index of industrial development. China became more urban but relatively slowly and with little diversification in the economy. The pace of urbanisation and a new and broader understanding of what it means to shape a new urban environment have followed from the economic reforms initiated in the late 1970s. In the last few years the shift in policy and urban thinking has gained pace, ...