Is Chinese urbanisation unique?

Abstract

The future of cities in China is becoming increasingly important, not just within China but globally. China’s urban population has grown from about 200 million in 1980 to about 800 million or 59% in 2018: that is about twice the total population of the USA and 1.5 times the total population of the EU. China has over 100 cities with over a million people. There are also more and more papers being written about urbanisation in China. However, urban development in China is very unlike urban development in the west or in many other developing countries. Despite the growth of a large, dynamic market sector, China is still a Communist country in terms of the pervasive and leading role of the party and the state. The question posed in this commentary is whether urbanisation in China is unique; or, to be more precise, whether the post-reform Chinese experience of urbanisation since around 1980 is so unusual that it constitutes an entirely unique case which lies outside conventional generalisations about urban change processes. This question links to recent discussions of comparative urbanism in which various scholars have grappled with questions about the generalisability of urban theory and experience. The tentative conclusion is that Chinese urbanisation may be unique and is certainly not easily subsumed into standard discussions about urban development and urban change.

Adding new narratives to the urban imagination: An introduction to ‘New directions of urban studies in China’

“…Finally, as shown in the two critical commentaries, Chinese cases provide new narratives for urban research. Hamnett (2020) asks whether Chinese cities are unique and argues that, because Chinese urbanisation is so different from both western and other developing countries’ experiences, we should not simply incorporate Chinese urban studies into an existing literature. Jonas (2020) uses the geographies of city-regionalism to illustrate that Chinese urban development processes are not exclusively unique.…”

Regarding Smart Cities in China, the North and Emerging Economies—One Size Does Not Fit All

“…In a recent commentary, Hamnet emphasizes the unique character of Chinese urbanization, stressing the key role played by the party and state and the way in which state ownership of land fuelled the financing of the unprecedented rapid urbanization of the country. This means that Chinese urbanization is basically different from the rest of the world [55]. This makes it the more remarkable that many scientific journals are including articles on what is happening in the country.…”

Experiences of Older People and Social Inclusion in Relation to Smart “Age-Friendly” Cities: A Case Study of Chongqing, China

“…This number is expected to grow to 500 million by 2050. The country is also rapidly urbanising, with China's urban population growing from about 200 million in 1980 to about 800 million or 59% in 2018 ( 19 ). By 2030, the urban share of the population is expected to reach 70%, amounting to one billion urban residents ( 20 ) and of those urban populations, 1 in 4 will be older adults ( 21 ).…”