Visions, scale, tempo, and form in China’s emerging city-regions

Abstract

In the last three decades the percentage of China’s population living in cities has nearly tripled and this massive urbanization is continuing. This paper examines three aspects of recent and projected Chinese urban development: scale, tempo, and form in relation to urban visions. Issues Western urban theorists like Ebenezer Howard, Albert Soria y Mata, Frank Lloyd Wright, LeCorbusier, and Clarence Perry addressed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries are fundamental: city size, the relationship of cities to peri-urban areas, the impact of the built environment on the natural environment, transportation infrastructure and land use, urban governance and finance, property rights, aesthetics, and community. As China struggles to plan cities with Chinese characteristics it must work at scales ranging from small towns to megacities, decide how rapidly to urbanize under enormous pressure, and determine the physical forms urbanization will take. Understanding and adapting Western visions can help.