China's new Towns in Controversy: A Literature Review

Abstract

In the past forty years, more than 3,800 new towns emerged and accommodated over 150 million urban inhabitants in China, which drew much attention since they were reported as “ghost cities” by media in the late 2000s. This literature review examines existing research and synthesizes current discussions through a meta-analysis. It concludes that existing literature, led by environmental scientists and designers, exhibits two polarized debates around the new towns’ uniqueness and the future of ghost cities. Gaps exist in national-scale surveys, criticism of planning methodology, and theories that can explain the current disputes.

Cluster analysis of underground space in the core area of new districts from the perspective of urban morphology

“…The utilization of UUS often corresponds to railway development, combined with the construction of ground-level buildings or green spaces, and in part, enhanced capabilities of groundlevel areas [4]. Furthermore, new districts in China, connected to the urban centers via the metro, are characterized by high development intensity and low vitality [5]. Hence, in contrast to traditional urban morphology, underground space morphology in new areas focuses on enhancing ground function and improving recognition and spatial distribution.…”

“…In this study, a new area was defined as a government-sponsored autonomous space proximate to an urban core [5]. Existing new areas in China can be categorized on the basis of their functions, such as We then computed the SDI using the number of POIs in distinct categories to examine the distribution and diversity of the UUSs.…”

Spatial Pattern, Quality Evaluation, and Implications of Preschool Education Facilities in New Urban Areas Using Multi-Source Data: A Case Study from Lingui New District in West China

“…Regarding the research on China's NUAs, scholars believe that the development of NUAs is influenced by the overall economic and social background and is driven by "government-led, high-speed urbanization and land finance" [30,31]. Most of the major problems facing the construction of NUAs include insufficient development power, insufficient development of urban functions, and homogeneous competition [32,33]. In the new era of urbanization development and transformation, NUAs that only consider the functions of residence and employment will not be enough to meet the higher needs of the people, and new development is needed in basic public services, ecological environments, historical culture, spiritual needs, and other aspects [34].…”