The Chinese urbanization
and the “village in city”
China Development Institute
Li Jin Kui
January 25,2008
1.The Chinese urbanization
Urbanization
level
China’s urbanization
level is 43.9% in 2006,
begin to speed up
process.
Economical
urbanization
Social
urbanization
2000 2006
1.1 Population and land resources of
China
According to the results of the land-use change
survey, China had 122.0827 million hectaacres of
cultivated land, 11.5490 million hectaacres of
garden land, 235.7411 million hectaacres of
forestland, 262.1438 million hectaacres of
pastureland, 25.5309 million hectaacres of land for
other agricultural use, 26.0151 million hectaacres
of land for residential and industrial/mining sites,
2.3085 million hectaacres of land for transport and
communications and 3.5987 million hectaacres of land
for water conservancy facilities. The rest was
unused land.
By comparison with 2004, the cultivated land in
2005 declined by 0.3%.The newly added land for
construction in 2005 totaled 432,000 hectaacres, of
which 151,100 hectaacres were used for industrial
and mining purposes (including various economic
development zones and parks), 98,200 hectaacres
were for urban construction, 66,600 hectaacres for
rural construction, and 107,600 hectaacres for
communications, water conservancy and other
infrastructures.（MLR ：COMMUNIQUE ON LAND AND
RESOURCES OF CHINA 2005）
Data Sources: CIA World Factbook, and other public domain resources
(February 2006)
1.1.1 Chinese Population Growth
How to realize harmonious
development among people, resource
and environment has become a grim,
unavoidable challenge confronting
China's urbanization.
In the face of rapid
population growth, China
has practiced Family
Planning since the late
1970s to control
population growth. As a
result, the birth rate has
declined on an annual
basis. The family planning
policy has seen remarkable
achievements. For instance,
Shanghai, the largest
Chinese city, has
witnessed negative
population growth for 10
consecutive years. In 2003,
the city's birth rate was
4.26 per thousand and its
natural population growth
was -3.29 per thousand.
China population and natural growth rate population（100 million）
natural growth rate(‰)
14 32
13 30
12 28
26
11
24
10
22
9
20
growth rate
population
8 18
7 16
6 14
5
12
10
4
8
3
6
2
4
1 2
0 0
49 51 53 55 57 59 61 63 65 67 69 71 73 75 77 79 81 83 85 87 89 91 93 95 97 99 01 03 05
year
By comparison with 2004, the cultivated land in
2005 declined by 0.3%.The newly added land for
construction in 2005 totaled 432,000 hectaacres, of
which 151,100 hectaacres were used for industrial
and mining purposes (including various economic
development zones and parks), 98,200 hectaacres
were for urban construction, 66,600 hectaacres for
rural construction, and 107,600 hectaacres for
communications, water conservancy and other
infrastructures.（MLR ：COMMUNIQUE ON LAND AND
RESOURCES OF CHINA 2005）
Data Sources: CIA World Factbook, and other public domain resources
(February 2006)
COUNT Land Area
RY Pop. （km2） Density
9 Canada 32,805,000 9,976,140.00 3.00
16 Russia 143,420,300 17,075,200.00 8.00
44 Brazil 186,112,800 8,511,965.00 21.86
77 Mexico 106,202,900 1,972,550.00 53.84
97 Malaysa 23,953,100 329,750.00 72.64
112 Turkey 69,660,600 780,580.00 89.24
117 Slovena 2,011,100 20,273.00 99.20
126 France 60,656,200 547,030.00 110.88
130 Poland 38,635,100 312,685.00 123.56
140 China 1,306,313,800 9,596,960.00 136.12
154 Italy 58,103,000 301,230.00 192.89
160 Germny 82,431,400 357,021.00 230.89
175 India 1,080,264,400 3,287,590.00 328.59
176 Japan 127,417,200 377,835.00 337.23
182 Korea 48,422,600 98,480.00 491.70
In China, because of the agriculture
civilization was very mature in pass several
thousand years, the population density of the
unit national territory was already very high.
Up to now in China, there are 666 counties
nationwide each of whose per-capita farmland
area is less than 0.05hm, the warning line
defined by the FAO. Such little resource makes
most Chinese farmers impossible to enjoy the
modern life if they do not leave the village.
Now more than 50% of all controllable income
of Chinese farmers comes from wages. So to a
certain extent, urbanization is something like
a kind of “eco-flee” in china.
1.1.2 The direction of population
movement since 1950
the direction of population move from 1950 to
middle of 1980's:
from city to countryside;
from coastal belt to inland.
the direction that population move after middle
of 1980's:
from countryside to city;
from inland to the coastal belt.
1.1.3 Urbanization as a kind of "eco-
flee"
In many countries, supply of food and water are
inadequate to support the population, so the
world falls deeper and deeper into what
economists call the “Malthusian trap”.
from 1920 to 2000, world city population from
360million growth to 3200 million, increase 8
times. The village population increased only 1
times.(zhang xianqiao,2004)that is to say, the
most new world population, went into the city.
Coutry
side1.6
billion
City0.4
billion
1920 2000
In one of Eco-Villages in Beijing, farmers
plant vegetables as Organic food, harvest eggs
as green food, and supply the supermarket.
Although there are at least 0.13hm farmland for
every farmer in this village, the income of
farmer is only 10,000RMB for one year.
1.2 The characteristics of Chinese
Urbanization
Like other developing countries, the key
problem China faces in its path towards
modernization is urbanization.
1.2.1 The biggest scale Urbanization ever in
human history
Both in scale and in speed, China's ongoing
urbanization is unprecedented in human history.
From 1978 to 2006, China's urbanization rate
rose from 17.9% to 43.9% and urban population
increased from 170 million to 560 million.
compare to an average 70 percent in developed
countries.
China's urbanization should not simply follow
the another country’s path. The western
urbanization mode featuring scattered cities
and Automobile oriented suburbanization is
conflicting.
China cannot afford to follow such mode.
1.2.2 The population migranting from
hinterland to coastal belt
"Made in China" -- a term familiar
to people of numerous countries
around the world.
1.2.3" The homecoming at Chinese Lunar
New Year "and the characteristics of
Chinese population movement
Each year's this time, China enters" the
spring conveyance " season, the railroad,
highway conveyance enters the most
crowded stage of whole year.
There are only a few farmer’s family move
to city, but labor.
1.3 Social problems in Chinese
Urbanization
1.3.1 Farmer’s problem losing their land
in Urbanization
In the past decade, about 40 million
farmers lost their land as a result of
rapid urbanization.
With the processing of fast
industrialization and urbanization in
the suburbs of metropolitan areas, it is
unavoidable that more and more farmers
will lose their land. It is urgent issue
to solve the problems of farmers losing
their land. The fundamental reason lies
in the defects in policies and
institutions.
Nowadays, the problem of peasants losing
their fields are increasingly serious
and noticed by the nation, the society
and students, which is not only a social
problem but also a political problem.
The local government pays more attention
to how to alleviate the public finance
pressure, not the well-being of the
farmer.
1.3.2 “Migrant workers’ (Mingong)
problems
There are more than 200 million workers
living in different city sizes of China.
Itinerant workers, un-rooted peasants,
working for low salaries, seven days a
week, ten hours a day, in extremely
difficult conditions. They are building
tomorrow’s China.
They are working on the construction
sites and lines of factory. Some of them,
mostly women, are employed in the
haircut salons or restaurants.
Workers on the construction live in their
workplace more often , they never leave
the construction site. Workers in the
factory or restaurants may live in the
village in city; they often rent a small
room.
According to a UN-Habitat publication launched on
World Habitat Day (6 October), sub-Saharan Africa
hosts the largest proportion of the urban population
residing in slums (71.9 per cent); 166 million out
of a total urban population of 231 million are
classified as slum dwellers. The region has the
second largest slum population in the world after
South-central Asia, which has 262 million making up
58 per cent of the total urban population in that
region. UN-Habitat estimates that 924 million people
worldwide, or 31.6 per cent of the global urban
population, lived in slums in 2001. In the next
thirty years, this figure is projected to double to
almost 2 billion, unless substantial policy changes
are put in place.
What exactly is a slum? UN-HABITAT attempts
at a definition by describing a slum
household as "a group of individuals living
under the same roof that lack one or more of
the following conditions: access to safe
water; access to sanitation; secure tenure;
durability of housing; and sufficient living
area".
1.3.3" Hallow villages"
and"386199 troops"
2."Village in city"
phenomenon of Shenzhen
Founded in 1979, Shenzhen was established as
one of the Special Economic Zones in China.
Situated in the coastal area of Middle South of
Guangdong Province, Shenzhen lies to the east
of the mouth of Pearl River, 160km to Guangzhou,
and 35km to Kowloon, Hong Kong. It covers a
total area of 1,950 square kilometers.
Guangdong
Shenzhen
Hong Kong
Shenzhen
area: 1952 km2
Special economic
zone since 1980
Hong Kong
Covering one sixth of Shenzhen territory,
Shenzhen Special Economic Zone is a long
and narrow strip of land, totaling 327.5
square kilometers. An area of 931 square
kilometers can be used for city
development, 46% of total area. The rest
is preserved for agriculture, water
resources, forestland, and grassland.
At the same time with the rapid economic
development, Shenzhen tries to gain full
improvement of all social sectors.
Recently, it is been awarded as the
National Sanitation City, the National
Garden City, the National Model City in
terms of environment protection, and Top
Tourist City of China. The city owns
modern cultural facilities, such as “Book
City,” theaters and libraries. Orchestras
and dancing troupes are also available
here.
2.1 What is the “village in city”
At different cities in China, depending on local
conditions, the village in city has many different
appearances. In Beijing, the residents build
shelters that have only 5 square meters, depending
on the yard wall. They have no air conditioning
or bathrooms in these kinds of places. In
Shijiazhuang and Jinan in the villages which
surrounded by city, the villagers set up two or
three layers of small buildings, but in Shenzhen
and Guangzhou, the villagers’ typical buildings in
the village in city are about 7-8 layers. The
village in city of Shenzhen is the luxurious
version of a low rent area.
2.1.1 How Shenzhen’s “village in
city” appeared
Shenzhen had about 2,000 villages, over
200 of which were within the ESZ, and
there were 300,000 private houses within
Shenzhen. All were spared and be allowed
to retain some form of rural patterns in
its management system.
Now Shenzhen’s “village in city” has a
construction size of 15,000,000m2.
Now at least 6,000,000 people live in this village.
(registered)
Shenzhen’s field
City: 2000 km2
SEZ: 320 km2
Shenzhen’s population
1979: 300,000
2007: 14,000,000
1984, the tallest building
fishing village international trade centre was
complete, set the construction
record of three days per storey
Same demand for labor as per industry
Profession Demand for labor Weight(%)
Manufacturing industry 635810 61.83
Building industry 10481 1.01
Transportation, warehouse with postal
34396 3.34
service industry
The information transport, computing
63984 6.22
service and software industry
Wholesale and retail 54598 5.31
Financial industry 8258 0.80
Real estate industry 21764 2.11
Resident service with other servicing
23296 2.26
business
Education 11949 1.16
Culture, athletics and entertainment 17547 1.70
Growth of population
1979 2006
314,100 8269,400
2006 year 272,329 million dollars industrial value adding,
increase 17.2%.
In 2006, Shenzhen has 2 world famous branded
business enterprises, 58 national famous branded
products, it is the absolute" Chinese capital of
famous brand".
On June 29th, the Shenzhen Government
declared that by October 31 2004,
Shenzhen would be a village-less city,
and that all the registered permanent
residents would be converted to city
dwellers. As a matter of logical outcome,
all the village land owned collectively
by the rural people would be
nationalized.
The two districts are told that by July
2004, the urbanization work of them would
be carried out in an all-round way and that
by end October, all the towns under the
rural organization system in the two
districts will become sub-district offices.
All the village committees would be changed
into neighborhood committees, and the
current 270,000 villagers would all be
turned into urban residents.
2.1.2 The spatial form of the
“village enclaves in city”
“Checkerboard”
There are about 200 this kind of villages
in shenzhen SEZ
An investigate to people
whom lived in the “village in
city”
Zhou lin , One of CDI’s professors,
designed and organized an investigation of
400 people living in the “village in town” of
Shenzhen.
2.1.3 Unformal employment
2.2 The game between government
and “villagers”
villagers make their building higher after
government officials step down.
2.2.1 Government regulations
on “villagers” construction
2.2.2 Several times high tide of
village in city construction in
Shenzhen
2.2.4 Government’s" reformation"
to the village in city
Some cities pursue expansion,
refurbishment and westernization and
blindly reconstruct their old districts
on a large scale which are the base of
culture and full of local
characteristics.
Vast squares, wide roads, luxurious
office buildings and western-style
architectural styles can be seen.
“the success of designs for social
organization depends upon the
recognition that local, practical
knowledge is as important as formal,
epistemic knowledge”.
（James C. Scott Seeing Like a
State-- How Certain Schemes to
Improve the Human Condition Have
Failed）
3 meaning for “village in city”:
1. Physical Aspects
2. Economic Aspects
3. Sociological Aspects
Which one we should
“redevelop”?
2.3 Where the village in cities
will be going to
2.3.1“ Conditions will be created
to enable more citizens to have
“property income”.
“Property income”, this statistical term was
used in the report delivered at the 17th Party
Congress. Up to the present, the wages income
in "all controllable income of person" of
Chinese citizens has been about 70% or so. The
property income has only the ratio of about 2%.
The property income of the American citizen has
40% of its controllable income, Therefore,
allowing "more citizens" to own the property
income is an important means of reducing the
gap between rich and poor.
In the Property Rights Law, which was
established in 2007, stipulates that "the
property rights of the state, collectives, and
individuals, as well as the property rights of
other right holders, are protected by law and
no unit or individual may infringe on the
rights".
From now on, in the urbanization process, the
property rights of the farmer decrease and
“mingong” will be respected more and more.
Thank you!
jklee2000@163.com