A probe into the impetus and mechanisms for the formation of quasi-urbanization area and its development prospect a sample study on Shaoxing County, Zhejiang Province

Abstract

This paper characterizes the social and economic situation of Shaoxing County, locating at the southern flank of Yangtze River Delta. According the characteristics of Desakota, which summed up by T. McGee, the regional features of the County completely tally with the characteristics of quasi-urbanized area. The formation of the quasi-urbanization characteristics in the County is a result of implementation of a series of development policies and strategies, which is different from the common run, and enumerated in the paper. Mainly it is that, the State guided peasants develop industries on the spot, implementing the policy of to leave the land but not the native place, enter factory but not city, taking industrialization development road for the rural communities refraining from a centralized urbanization. The followed economic policies brought some positive as well as negative influence on the urbanization process in the countryside. And the segregated administration division of the rural county from the urban district helps the decentralized urbanization as well. The sample study concludes that: quasi-urbanization would be an inevitable phenomenon in some densely populated areas of developing countries, where is not possible grow a new big central city; the some small towns in the area will continue grow progressively in the order of development of the local urban system from below. The dispersedly quazi-urbanized administrative region is necessary strengthen its central city serve the region's development, but normally the prospect central city should not have bigger size than that of the central cities of higher rank. The development of polarized urbanization is limited, and it is un-realistic expect a conformation of new bigger city nearby the existed local large central city there. Quasi-urbanized area is a particular human-geographical area, where the urban and rural elements are mingled each other. And at the end the authors have made some suggestions for healthier development of the County, such as: abolish the principle of urban-rural separation for regional administrative division, and merge the two administrative regions of Shaoxing County with Yuecheng District into one unit; promote a reasonable distribution of land-uses and pay close attention land consolidation and leveling for increasing the land-utility ratio in agriculture and create favorable conditions for giving the full play of the local potentialities for the agricultural production.