Urbanisation in China: The rapid growth of small cities and rational regrouping of cities of different sizes

Abstract

The macroscopic process of urbanisation in the world has been summarised by scholars as generally assuming an S-curve (see Fig. 1). China is no exception in this regard. In the process of urbanisation, big cities are often the first to grow in a concentrated form, bringing about various “urban diseases”. However, with the rapid development of the economy, the spatial distribution of these cities begins to show a tendency towards “decentralisation”, or “suburbanisation” or “counter-urbanisation”. Therefore, the role and function of small cities in the process of urbanisation, if also illustrated by a curve, will generally assume a Vcurve (see Fig. 2). Of course, many factors are relevant in formulating policies for urban development, such as which category of cities should be given national priorities, big cities or small ones ? What should be the appropriate ranks and sizes of settlements? There is no universal answer to these questions. In my opinion, under the specific conditions of China, a network of urban and rural settlements has already come into being, which includes (according to statistics up to December, 1988): l big cities with a population of over one million, 28 l big cities with a population of 500,000 to one million, 30 l medium-sized cities with a population of 200,000-500,000, 110 l small cities with a population of less than 200,000, 266 l established towns, 11,481 l market towns, 45,347 l villages, 3,739,587. All big, medium and small cities within this huge network of human settlements will develop in the future. In our country, exclusive development of either big cities or small ones does not work. The important issue is how to guide adroitly their growth according to circumstances and identify priorities of development in the light of different local conditions and different stages of development, so as to achieve the optimum combined social, economic and environmental benefits. Seen from the development over the past decade, major changes have occurred in the function and role of small cities in the course of rapid urbanisation in China. Three points are especially worth noticing about small cities (i.e. cities with a population of less than 200,000). (1) Between 1978 and 1988, the total number of small cities across the country increased from 90 (the cities totalled 192) to 266 (the total is 434). If we compare the year of 1980 with that of 1988, the ratio of big, medium, and small cities was 1:1.5:2.4 in 1980 (small cities totalled 108); while the same ratio became 1:3.7:8.9 in 1988.