Curbing Sprawl with Development-limiting Boundaries in Urban China: A Review of Literature

Abstract

Facing the need to control urban sprawl, many Chinese cities are exploring the use of development-limiting boundaries, such as urban growth boundary (UGB) and urban development boundary (UDB), as required by the central government. Through a key word search of several databases including Web of Science and China National Knowledge Infrastructure, we identified and reviewed hundreds of articles published in academic or professional journals. Our review shows that policy processes discussed in the literature have emphasized the technical aspect with analytical sophistication. We identified three types of approach to UGB and UDB in the literature: the growth-driven, the constraint-oriented, and the hybrid. While urban theories and modeling techniques that originated from Western countries have greatly influenced the analytical process underlying some of these approaches, the UGB/UDB policy debate and explorations were also responsive to China’s unique urban and policy conditions. Despite the rich empirical content in the literature, very little research has been grounded in a scientific understanding of China’s urban development. Issues such as intergovernmental coordination, policy enforcement, and evaluation were also inadequately addressed in the existing literature. The literature’s newness may have been a major factor for these limitations. Our critique of the current literature may inspire new areas of research to generate knowledge that can inform China’s continuous policy efforts to combat urban sprawl.

Recent Literature about Urban Sprawl: A Renewed Relevance of the Phenomenon from the Perspective of Environmental Sustainability

“…In Yan [47], this type of impact analysis is applied to Chinese cities with similar conclusions. More recently, Yang and colleagues [48] extend previous conclusions using advanced GIS models that allow us to see the growth in urban sprawl and the simultaneous disappearance of natural spaces.…”

Urban Planning Research and Practice in China

“…In this context, the literature review from Yang et al (2020, pp. 22–37) on development-limiting boundaries is timely.…”

“…An important insight of the article is the coexistence of different approaches to UGB/UDB: growth-driven, constraint-oriented, and hybrid. The delineation of UGB/UDB is increasingly complex in the delicate balance between the needs to satisfying continuously growing demand for developable land and to stringently limiting supply to protect ecological assets, “reflecting the extension of using western-developed approaches and the practice needs to satisfy changing requirements and priorities” (Yang et al 2020, pp. 22–37).…”

“…Both Hu et al (2020, pp. 3–21) and Yang et al (2020, pp. 22–37) urge future research to consider the sociospatial disadvantages of certain socioeconomic groups.…”

“…3–21) is to understand the outcomes of popular planning strategies whose effects have not been fully examined. Yang et al (2020, pp. 22–37) point out the lack of evaluation of UGB/UDB’s performance.…”