Introduction and overview

Abstract

Economic reform since 1978 has led to an unprecedented growth in the history of population and economic development in China. A large portion of the increased urban population and the corresponding economic growth has been concentrated in the mega-city regions, such as Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH), Yangtze River Delta (YRD) and Pearl River Delta (PRD). These three largest mega-city regions in China accounted for only 5% of the land area, but possessed 24.1% of the population and over 38.6% of the GDP of the national total in 2018. The importance of mega-city regions in China can be manifested in the 13th Five-year Plan (2016–2020) in which 19 urban agglomerations have been explicitly identified as national engines of urbanization and economic growth. Most of these urban agglomerations are mega-city regions. In this context, a series of reviews and case studies are presented in this book to explore the dynamics and challenges of economic, social, transport, environment and governance of mega-city region development in China, so that appropriate strategies can be formulated to facilitate their future planning and development. As an introductory chapter of the book, this chapter first conceptualizes mega-city regions and revisits their emergence in China. Then it proceeds to summarize the pathway and dynamics of mega-city region development during the three consecutive waves of economic transition since 1978. Thereafter, the chapter provides an overview of the whole book and summarizes the theoretical standpoints, research questions and objectives, and main findings of the 14 studies presented in the remaining chapters.