Development of Towns in China: A Case Study of Guangdong Province

Tourism-driven urbanization in China’s small town development: A case study of Zhapo Town, 1986–2003

“…On the one hand, metropolitan areas with official city status have experienced an urbanization process under direct sponsorship of the state in terms of either development policies or direct fiscal support (Shen, 2006;Shen et al, 2002). On the other hand, the urbanization process in a considerable number of small towns and villages is characterized by a trajectory of "urbanization from below" (Cui & Ma, 1999;Ma & Fan, 1994;Ma & Lin, 1993), during which there is a significant transition from an agricultural-based economic structure to increasing industrial production, business and services, while in the meantime the largest proportion of labor force in the secondary and tertiary sectors continues to be legally categorized as agricultural population within the persisting hukou system (Shen, 2006).…”

Anthropogenic Factors in Land-Use Change in China

“…After 1949, the government's closed-city policy effectively prevented rapid urbanization, and 72 percent of the population is still classified as rural (Statistical Yearbook of China 1994). There are numerous methodological problems in the classification and projection of urban populations in China (Goldstein 1990;Ma and Cui 1987;Ma and Lin 1993), but the general trend is clear. Attracted by the rapidly growing manufacturing and service sectors in towns and urban areas, and pushed by rural unemployment, millions of Chinese peasants will become urban dwellers in the near future.…”

State-sponsored and spontaneous urbanization in Fujian province of China, 1982–2010

“…The difference of the two tracks of urbanization emphasizes the difference in hukou status and the associated difference in social security and welfare. TVEs have been strongly supported by local governments since the 1980s which is considered as development from below in contrast to the development from above, referring to the state investment in urban areas (Ma & Fan, 1994;Ma & Lin, 1993).…”

“…Friedmann (2006:440) argued that "China's urbanization, although entwined with globalization processes, is to be understood chiefly as an endogenous process leading to a specifically Chinese form of modernity". The notions of "urbanization from above" and "urbanization from below" have been proposed to describe the urbanization processes in China (Ma & Fan, 1994;Ma & Lin, 1993;Wang, 2000;Yan, Lin, & Xu, 1994). The former notion refers to the construction of new cities or the expansion of existing cities by large-scale investments of the state, prevailing from the 1950s to 1970s.…”