Governmental policy and regional urbanization of China

Includes bibliographical references (pages 122-127)This thesis contains three major parts. The first part describes China's urban population growth since the founding of the People???s Republic in 1949. The second part examines the regional variation of urban growth among the seven regions. Before 1949, the four regions along the coast were much more highly urbanized than the three regions in the interior. The situation has changed greatly in the last quarter century because of the more rapid growth of the cities in the interior. The third part deals with China???s governmental policies which have caused this new trend in regional urban growth. The most important factor affecting the rapid urban growth of the interior regions was the economic policy which stressed decentralization and regional self-sufficiency. Under that policy, cities in the interior regions which were under-developed in the past have been industrialized rapidly. This has caused the enpansion of the cities in the interior. The nation???s population policies have also been helping this new trend of regional urban development. The birth control program and the rustication program have been particularly effective in the big metropolises along the coast. China's national security policy, which required economic and population strength along the interior border, has also been helping the growth of the cities in the remote areas of the interior. These governmental policies have had enormous effect on the nation's regional urban growth since 1949