The Concept of Private Sector Development and Urbanization

Abstract

In the process of China’s market-oriented reforms, the private sector is undoubtedly an extremely important driving force for regional economic development and urbanization. Certainly, urbanization itself is an important carrier and engine for regional economic and social development. The continuous progress of urbanization could greatly expand the space for private economic development and multiply the development fields of private sector. Today, more than half of the world’s six billion population lives in urban areas and, it has been projected that during the period of 2000–2030, more than two billion people will transfer from rural areas to urban areas in developing countries (The United Nations Millennium Declaration, 2000). China is the largest developing country with a population of 1.3 billion. Its high proportion of rural population and the huge population size make China a decisive proposition in the process of urbanization in the world. Today, the unprecedented urbanization that China is undergoing depends on the power of non-agricultural employment opportunities created by private sector. To be precise, China’s long-term growth is inseparable from the support of the private sector. In sync with this reality, the World Expo 2010 was held for the first time in China (Expo, 2010); the theme was “Better City, Better Life”! The expo with that particular theme was intended to encourage Chinese people and the world at large to focus more on a combined paradigm of promoting urbanization and regional development, which in turn makes it significant to study the interplay of private economic development and regional urbanization. When it comes to China, understanding and evaluating the theories, concepts, ideas, and practices of urbanization becomes essential to studying China’s private sector development and urbanization issues.