China: a unique urbanization model
Ebanks, G.E.; Cheng, C.
Asia-Pacific Population Journal 5(3): 29-50
1990
ISSN/ISBN: 0259-238X PMID: 12283668 Document Number: 374874
This article examines China's unique urbanization patterns, as well as the policies and measures designed to restrain urban growth, which have helped avoid the urban disasters associated with other developing countries. The study relies primarily on data gathered from censuses of 1953, 1964, and 1982, as well as a survey conducted in 1987 and other sources. Urbanization at a notable scale in China started quite late, 30 years after it began in other developing countries. But in recent years, China has caught up and surpassed developing countries in the level of urbanization. Accounting for only 11.2% of the total population in 1950, China's urban population increased to 36.6% by 1985 and to 46.6% by 1987. The authors have found a correlation between the levels of urbanization and the political climate in China. While the Great Leap Forward (1958-60) gave rise to rapid urbanization, the Cultural Revolution of the late 1960s returned many people to the countryside. From 1985-87, China's total urban population increased from 384.5 million to 503.9 million, a remarkable growth due primarily to changes in the criteria for town establishment. This new criteria advances the policy of increasing the development of small cities and town, an effort to avoid the problems associated with massive urban centers in other developing countries -- squalor, unemployment, diseases, etc. Using tough measures to ensure controlled growth, the government requires each household to have permanent registration booklet, which serves to anchor people to either urban or rural areas. Evidence shows that the policies have been successful in maintaining orderly growth in the cities. While Shanghai's population has only grown by 1 million since 1953, the growth has taken place in many medium and small-sized cities.