Progress of China's new-type urbanization construction since 2014: A preliminary assessment

Abstract

The demand to measure the progress of China's new-type urbanization construction appears to be increasing due to its profound impact on both China and global sustainable urbanization. However, there is a lack of knowledge about the progress since the issuance of the National New-type Urbanization Plan (NUP) in March 2014, and it is unclear how to assess the comprehensive new-type urbanization construction, which has multiple dimensions and various themes. To close this gap, a new three-stage framework is proposed. This article outlines and classifies the up-to-date policies and actions since the release of the NUP and provides a preliminary assessment of China's new-type urbanization construction from the aspects of population urbanization, land urbanization, economic urbanization and comprehensiveness. The results show that China unfolded a very comprehensive top-down campaign of new-type urbanization construction. The strict urban-rural dual household registration system has started to be changed into a residence permit system. However, the implementation of the NUP is also facing many challenges. The most important thing is that the bottom-up factors should be more emphasized and combined with top-down factors in future plan implementations. This is to say, peasant-workers will need to be taken into proper consideration. People-oriented new-type urbanization should position peasant-workers at the center. Also, China’s transformation of new-type urbanization is comprehensive, complex, dynamic, and long term. It should not be expected that this transformation will be completed during the short six-year planning period.