China Urbanizes

Consequences, Strategies, and Policies

Shahid Yusuf, Anthony Saich

• Publisher: World Bank Publications
• Year: 2008
• eBook ISBN: 9780821372128
• Edition: 0
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: City Planning & Urban Development
• Index: Politics & International Relations

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.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Preface
• Contributors
• Abbreviations
• Chapter 1 Optimizing Urban Development
• Chapter 2 Rural–Urban Inequality in China
• Chapter 3 Migration, Hukou, and the City
• Chapter 4 Poverty and Vulnerability
• Chapter 5 Finance for Urban Centers
• Chapter 6 Energy Policy
• Chapter 7 Water and Urbanization
• Chapter 8 The Changing Role of Urban Government
• Index
• Box 8.1 The Survey on Citizen Satisfaction with Government
• Figure 1.1 Financial Development in Selected Countries, 2005
• Figure 1.2 Investment in Urban Infrastructure in Shanghai, as Percentage of GDP, 1985–2004
• Figure 2.1 Real Urban and Rural per Capita Income, 1978–2005
• Figure 2.2 Ratio of Real Rural to Real Urban per Capita Income, 1989–2005
• Figure 2.3 Grain and Agricultural Input Price Indices, 1993–2005
• Figure 8.1 Government Service Satisfaction/Importance Matrix
• Figure 8.2 Citizen Satisfaction with Different Levels of Government, 2003–05
• Figure 8.3 Citizen Satisfaction with Different Levels of Government, by Income Level, 2003
• Figure 8.4 Urban Respondents’ Rating of Satisfaction with and Importance of Various Government Functions, 2003
• Figure 8.5 Organization of Urban Government
• Table 1.1 Percentage of Population Living in Urban Areas in Selected Asian Countries, 1980–2005
• Table 1.2 Urban Population in China and East Asia, 1960–2005
• Table 1.3 Rice, Wheat, and Maize Yields in Selected Countries and Regions, 1997–2002
• Table 3.1 Size of “Floating” and Migrant Population, 1990 and 2000
• Table 3.2 Interprovincial Migration within and between Regions, 1990 and 2000
• Table 3.3 Self-Declared Reasons for Intercounty Migration
• Table 6.1 Energy Production and Consumption, 1991–2005
• Table 6.2 Projected Demand for Primary Energy and Oil in Selected Countries in 2025
• Table 6.3 Alternative Projections of Growth in Final Energy Demand in China, by Sector
• Table 6.4 Energy Intensity, 1991–2005
• Table 6.5 Total Energy Consumption, by Sector, 1997–2005
• Table 6.6 Imports and Exports of Energy, by Type, 1991–2005
• Table 7.1 Population of China, 1980–2005, by Region
• Table 7.2 Gross Water Availability per Capita, in North and South, 1980–2005
• Table 7.3 Water Use, by Sector, 1980–2005
• Table 8.1 Subnational Expenditure Shares and Functional Allocations in Selected Asian Countries
• Table 8.2 Urban Residents’ Attitudes toward Government Behavior, 2005
• Table 8.3 Highest- and Lowest-Rated Categories of Government Service by Urban Residents, 2003 and 2005