Recasting the rural: State, society and environment in contemporary China

• Published in: Geoforum Vol. 78; pp. 83 - 88
• Main Authors: Chen, Jia-Ching, Zinda, John Aloysius, Yeh, Emily Ting
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.01.2017; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Countryside; Inhabitants; Population (statistical); Rural areas; Rural communities; Towns; Transformation; Urban areas; Urban population; Urban populations; Urban studies; Urbanization; China
• ISSN: 0016-7185; 1872-9398
• DOI: 10.1016/j.geoforum.2016.03.014

To many observers, the recent redoubling of the Chinese state's efforts to move people from the countryside into towns and cities confirms their sense that at the head of a worldwide urbanizing surge, China is leaving its agrarian legacy behind. With China's swift urban transformation, rural communities seem fated to waste away. The flurry of reports when China's urban population surpassed 50% in 2011 was merely a statistical marker in an ongoing process. In 2014, the State Council approved a plan to have 60% of the population in urban areas by 2020. By 2025, China will have 221 cities with over one million inhabitants. Here, Chen et al examine China's urbanizing shift.