{"id":13855,"date":"2024-03-25T06:30:31","date_gmt":"2024-03-25T06:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/?p=13855"},"modified":"2025-04-23T09:01:35","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T09:01:35","slug":"how-china-reinvented-its-cities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/how-china-reinvented-its-cities\/","title":{"rendered":"How China reinvented its cities"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since the late 1970s, China has undergone perhaps the most sweeping process of urbanisation ever witnessed. It\u2019s a story largely understood as one of growth, rapid development and economic dynamism. But it could also be seen as a tale of sprawl, bad planning and alienation. Now all the talk is of \u2018quality\u2019 in urban planning and city studies.<\/p>\n

Richard Hu, a professor at the Canberra Business School, looks at the changes in China\u2019s cities since 2010 and dares to make some bold predictions about the future. In the past, Hu has written about Shenzhen as well as comparing Chinese cities to the rapid urban growth in other Asian countries. Now, his book Reinventing the Chinese City<\/em> (Columbia University Press) is available and perhaps points the way to the urban future in China.<\/p>\n

Read on for Paul French\u2019s conversation with the author …<\/p>\n

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At the start of the book, you posit the question of whether China is now entering a new era of urbanisation. Is this the case, and how do you define this new era? And, as you also ask, is the current urban transformation leading to a new normal or following an old path?<\/h4>\n

China\u2019s urbanisation is entering a new era. After four decades of growth at a speed and scale unprecedented in human history, China\u2019s urbanisation is now transitioning into a stage of post-growth. This new era of urbanisation<\/a> is characterised by a pursuit of qualitative upgrading to replace the previous one of quantitative growth. This shift is reflected in policy priorities like \u2018new-type urbanisation\u2019 and \u2018high-quality development\u2019, which the Chinese government has put in place in the recent decade.<\/p>\n

This shift from growth to post-growth is reshaping China\u2019s urban policy and planning system. It is also likely to reshape urban development approaches in the coming decades. Green<\/a>, smart, and innovative<\/a>, among other notions, are the keywords underpinning this shift. This shift is a long-term process spanning through the middle of the 21st century. If these are going to happen as planned and aspired, they will lead to a new normal of Chinese-style urbanisation. But the process will not be smooth. It will fluctuate among the tug-of-war between the new normal and the old path, and between imagination and reality.<\/p>\n