Abstract
Over the period 1978–2016, more than 550 million migrants moved to China’s cities, resulting in a large rise of urbanization from 18 to 57%. While urbanization is influenced by many factors, this study focuses on industrialization, a key structural determinant of urban development. How does industrial development affect China’s urbanization? Does China’s industrialization lead to its urbanization? Is China under- or over-urbanized? How does China manage urban development so that the virtuous circle between urbanization and industrialization could realize? This chapter offers explanations to the questions as follows: China’s rapid industrialization is the key driver of its urbanization; China’s urban development is at the right speed, avoiding many problems of over-urbanization in developing countries; and China successfully guided urbanization to promote economic growth through agglomeration and consumption effects.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
Industrial development is desirable not only as a source of higher productivity growth and per capita income, but also to achieve greater diversity of the economic structure, which reduces a country’s vulnerability to poverty and external shocks. Industry, especially manufacture, has long been considered a sector that plays a key role in economic growth for developing countries (UNIDO 2002, 2013; Zhang 2010).
- 2.
Standard theories of development economics view urbanization and industrialization as essentially synonymous, reflecting a stylized development process in which the structural transformation from agriculture into manufacturing and services involves a shift of labor out of rural areas and into urban ones (Alvarez-Cuadrado and Poschke 2011; Brückner 2012; Michaels et al. 2012; Williamson 1988).
- 3.
Industrialization caused urbanization because it offered more jobs and attracted people to the city. The urbanization process typically begins when factories are established within a region and creating a demand for factory labor. Other businesses such as building manufacturers, retailers and service providers then follow the factories in order to meet the product demands of the workers. This creates even more jobs and demands for housing, thus establishing an urban area. As industrialization creates economic growth, the demand for the improved education and public works agencies that are characteristic of urban areas increases. This demand occurs because businesses looking for new technology to increase productivity require an educated workforce, and pleasant living conditions attract skilled workers to the area.
- 4.
Urban areas under industrialization offer better opportunities for housing and education, and city living allows people to benefit from diversity and marketplace competition. Cities offer access to wealth and services that many rural areas lack. Rural inhabitants typically move to cities to exploit economic opportunities and improve their social mobility. The lack of specialist services in rural areas further stimulates urbanization.
- 5.
A few exceptions are Brunei, Mongolia and Venezuela which were also heavily dependent on natural resource production post-1960. Some countries are both industrialized and resource-exporters, such as Chile, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Peru.
- 6.
Based on the method developed by UNIDO (2013), a country’s industrial competitiveness (IC) may be assessed with three indicators: industrial capacity, industrial intensity, and industrial quality. Industrial capacity, defined as the ability to produce and export manufactures, includes four indexes: manufacturing value added per capita, manufactured exports per capita, manufacturing value added share in world, and manufactured exports share in world. Industrial intensity denotes shares of manufacturing value added in GDP and manufactured export in total exports. Industrial quality defined as technological deepening and upgrading in industries, includes medium- and high-tech manufacturing value added share in total and medium- and high-tech manufactured Exports share in total.
- 7.
China’s statistics regarding urban population sometimes can be misleading because of the various criteria used to calculate urban population. In the 1953 census, urban essentially referred to settlements with populations of more than 2500, in which more than 50% of the labor force were involved in nonagricultural pursuits. The 1964 census raised the cut-off to 3000 and the requirement for nonagricultural labor to 70%. The 1982 census used the 3000/70% minimum but introduced criteria of 2500–3000 and 85% as well. In addition, in calculating urban population, the 1982 census made a radical change by including the agricultural population residing within the city boundaries. This explains the dramatic jump in urban population from the 138.7 million reported for year-end 1981 to the 206.6 million counted by the 1982 census. In 1984 the urban guidelines were further loosened, allowing for lower minimum population totals and nonagricultural percentages. The criteria varied among provincial-level units.
References
Alvarez-Cuadrado, F., and M. Poschke. 2011. Structural change out of agriculture: Labor push versus labor pull. American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics 3 (3): 127–158.
Brückner, M. 2012. Economic growth, size of the agricultural sector, and urbanization in Africa. Journal of Urban Economics 71 (1): 26–36.
Davis, J.C., and J.V. Henderson. 2003. Evidence on the political economy of the urbanization process. Journal of Urban Economics 53 (1): 98–125.
Duranton, G. 2008. Viewpoint: From cities to productivity and growth in developing countries. Canadian Journal of Economics 41 (3): 689–736.
Fay, M., and C. Opal. 2000. Urbanization without growth: A not-so-uncommon phenomenon. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper Series No. 2412.
Glaeser, E., J. Kolko, and A. Saiz. 2001. Consumer city. Journal of Economic Geography 1 (1): 27–50.
Glaeser, E.L. 2013. A world of cities: The causes and consequences of urbanization in poorer countries. National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Working Papers 19745.
Glaeser, E.L., and J.D. Gottlieb. 2009. Wealth of cities: Agglomeration economies and spatial equilibrium in the United States. Journal of Economic Literature 47 (4): 983–1028.
Glaeser, E.L., H.D. Kallal, J.A. Scheinkman, and A. Shleifer. 1992. Growth in cities. Journal of Political Economy 100 (6): 1126–1152.
Gollin, D., R. Jedwab, and D. Vollrath. 2016. Urbanization with and without industrialization. Journal of Economic Growth 21 (1): 35–70.
Hamer, A.M., and J.F. Linn. 1987. Urbanization in the developing world: patterns, issues, and policy. In Handbook of regional and urban economics, vol. II, ed. E.S. Mills. Amsterdam: Elsevier-North Holland.
Henderson, J.V. 2003. The urbanization process and economic growth: The so-what question. Journal of Economic Growth 8 (1): 47–71.
Henderson, J.V. 2010. Cities and development. Journal of Regional Science 50 (1): 515–540.
Lucas, R.E. 2004. Life earnings and rural-urban migration. Journal of Political Economy 112 (1): 29–59.
Michaels, G., F. Rauch, and S.J. Redding. 2012. Urbanization and structural transformation. The Quarterly Journal of Economics 127 (2): 535–586.
National Bureau of Statistical of China (NBSC). 2014. China statistical yearbook 2004–2012. Beijing‚ China: China Statistics Press.
National Bureau of Statistical of China (NBSC). 2016. China industrial economy and statistical yearbook 2004-2012. Beijing‚ China: China Statistics Press.
National Bureau of Statistical of China (NBSC). 2006–2014. China industrial economy and statistical yearbook 2004–2012. Beijing‚ China: China Statistics Press.
National Bureau of Statistical of China (NBSC). 2006–2014. China statistical yearbook 2004–2012. Beijing, China: China Statistics Press.
Song, S., and K.H. Zhang. 2002. Urbanization and city-size distribution in China. Urban Studies 39 (12): 2317–2327.
United Nations (UN). 2011. World urbanization prospects: The 2011 revision. New York: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). 2002. Industrial development report 2002/2003. New York: United Nations.
UNIDO. 2013. Industrial competitiveness of nation: Looking back, forging ahead. Vienna: United Nations.
UNIDO. 2015. UNIDO database. New York: United Nations.
Williamson, J.G. 1988. Migration and urbanization. In Handbook of development economics, vol. I, ed. H. Chenery, and T.N. Srinivasan. Amsterdam: Elsevier-North Holland.
World Bank. 2016. World bank development indicator 2016. Washington DC: World Bank.
World Bank. 2017. WDI Database. Washington DC: World Bank.
World Bank and Development Research Center of China (WB and DRCC). 2014. Urban China: Toward efficient, inclusive, and sustainable urbanization. Washington DC: World Bank.
Xie, J., and K.H. Zhang. 2004. Urban population in the reform era. In Urban transformation in China, eds. Chen, A., G.G. Liu, and Zhang, K.H. New York: Ashgate, 83–96.
Zhang, K.H. 2002. What explains China’s rising urbanization in the reform era? Urban Studies 39: 2301–2315.
Zhang, K.H., and S. Song. 2003. Rural-urban migration and urbanization in China: Evidence from time-series and cross-section analysis. China Economic Review 13 (4): 386–400.
Zhang, K.H. 2010. How does globalization affect industrial competitiveness? Contemporary Economic Policy 28 (4): 502–510.
Zhang, K.H. 2015a. Macro- and micro-drivers of manufacturing performance of China. The Chinese Economy 48 (6): 399–412.
Zhang, K. H. (2015b). China’s manufacturing performance and industrial competitiveness: International comparison and policy reflection. In China’s domestic transformation in a global context, eds. Song, L., R. Garmaut, Fang, C., and L. Johnston, Canberra, Australia: Australian National University Press, 297–314.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Zhang, K.H. (2017). Urbanization and Industrial Development in China. In: Tang, Z. (eds) China’s Urbanization and Socioeconomic Impact . Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4831-9_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4831-9_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-10-4830-2
Online ISBN: 978-981-10-4831-9
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)