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Urbanization Since 1949: History, Current State and Problems

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Abstract

China, a country with a 5000-year history of civilization, is one of the countries that developed the earliest urban areas, having the largest size and number of cities in the world. However, urban development in China lagged behind the industrially-advanced countries since the nineteenth century. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, urbanization process in China was full of twists and turns. In the approximately 30 years before the initiation of the reform and opening policy, the pace of urbanization in China was rather slow, whereas after the reforms were launched, urbanization accelerated with an unprecedented large scale and speed in human history. Urbanization proceeded more rapidly in China than in most other countries that have undergone the process.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Tu (1996).

  2. 2.

    Mao Zedong. Analysis on Classes in Chinese Society. 1925-12. “There are about two million modern industrial proletariats. Due to economic backwardness, they are few in number. Most of them come from the five industries of railway, mining, shipping, textile and shipbuilding. A large number of them are under the yoke of foreign industry. Industrial proletariat is not a large number, but it is representative of China’s new productive forces and China’s most advanced class, which becomes the leading force of revolutionary movement”.

  3. 3.

    Tu (1996).

  4. 4.

    Zhang (1996).

  5. 5.

    Xu et al. (1995).

  6. 6.

    Zhao and Xie (1987, 1988).

  7. 7.

    China Compendium Statistics 19491998. China Statistics Press, 1999.

  8. 8.

    Hou (2010).

  9. 9.

    Zhao (1988).

  10. 10.

    Wang (2001).

  11. 11.

    Bai (2003).

  12. 12.

    Li and Yang (2007).

  13. 13.

    Bai (2003).

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Li, Q. (2020). Urbanization Since 1949: History, Current State and Problems. In: China’s Development Under a Differential Urbanization Model. Research Series on the Chinese Dream and China’s Development Path. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-9451-5_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-9451-5_1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-13-9450-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-13-9451-5

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