Urban China
By: Xuefei Ren
Series: China today; China today series (Cambridge, England)
Publisher: Polity Press; Polity
Published: 2013
Place of publication: Cambridge, UK; Malden, MA
Language: eng
Number of pages: 218
ISBN-13: 9780745653587; 9780745653594
Subjects: Urbanization; History; City planning; Urban policy; Cities and towns; Growth; Rural-urban relations
Description: "Currently there are more than 125 Chinese cities with a population exceeding one million. The unprecedented urban growth in China presents a crucial development for studies on globalization and urban transformation. This concise and engaging book examines the past trajectories, present conditions, and future prospects of Chinese urbanization, by investigating five key themes - governance, migration, landscape, inequality, and cultural economy. Based on a comprehensive evaluation of the literature and original research materials, Ren offers a critical account of the Chinese urban condition after the first decade of the twenty-first century. She argues that the urban-rural dichotomy that was artificially constructed under socialism is no longer a meaningful lens for analyses and that Chinese cities have become strategic sites for reassembling citizenship rights for both urban residents and rural migrants. The book is essential reading for students and scholars of urban and development studies with a focus on China, and all interested in understanding the relationship between state, capitalism, and urbanization in the global context." -- Publisher's description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 203-214) and index.