Urbanization

Urbanization

In the early days after the founding of the new China on the remnants of the old China that had been cast into civil war as the result of the conflict between the Chinese Communist forces and the forces of the Kuomintang following the surrender of Japan to Allied Forces, which marked the close of WWII (Chinese Communist forces and the forces of the Kuomintang had cooperated to some extent during WWII in order to drive out the common enemy), there were only 58 cities in all of China, and of Chinese cities with a population in excess of 1 million, there were only 9.

With the rise to power of the Communist Party in China in 1949, a new era of economic development comprising extensive urban development – though not at the expense of the countryside – was launched. This development did not proceed rapidly until toward the end of the century, due, as indicated, to the attention that was given to the countryside: all of China was in need of reform, and at the same time, the new young country faced serious external threats, which also required massive spending on defenses.

However, China's urban development picked up considerably during the last two decades of the previous century. For example, in 1979 there were still only 193 cities in China, but by 1999, that number had increased to 668, among which 37 had a population in excess of 1 million, 48 had a population in excess of ½ million (500 thousand), and 205 had a population somewhere between 200-500 thousand.

During these two decades, the number of moderately-sized Chinese cities between 200-500 thousand inhabitants increased relatively fast, while the number of smaller cities increased even faster. In the eastern, coastal part of the country, urban centers – or municipal areas typically surrounding a very large metropolis at its nucleus – began to take shape. These major urban centers were the Bohai Sea Municipal Area, the Yangtze River Delta Municipal Area, and the Pearl River Delta Municipal Area. Subsequent reform and opening up to the outside world have greatly promoted the relative size, both in physical terms as well as in economic terms, of these major urban centers. For example, from 1988 to 1996, the GDP of these municipal areas increased phenomenally, with an average annual growth rate of 18%, as the centralized structure of these urban powerhouses was felt with increasing prominence.