China Urbanizes: Consequences, Strategies, and Policies

Rural-urban migration is playing an increasingly important role in shaping the economic and demographic landscape of Chinese cities. Over the past two decades, China has transformed itself from a relatively immobile society to one in which more than 10 percent of the population are migrants.

China's mobility rate is still low compared with that of advanced industrial economies, the sheer size of the migrant flows and their dramatic economic and social consequences have already profoundly affected economic growth and urban development. Looking ahead, decision makers at all levels will need to craft policies that address issues of migration and rural-urban migrants issues that are hotly debated among scholars, Chinese policy makers, and others.

This report presents recent findings that describe migration patterns and changes since the 1980s.

China today is at a midpoint in the largest rural-to-urban migration in history. This transformation from a rural to a predominantly urban society poses enormous challenges and opportunities for China. This book of essays by outstanding scholars of China and urbanization is among the fi rst to look at this process comprehensively. It will inform both outsiders desiring a better understanding of Chinese urbanization and insiders directly involved in trying to strengthen the policies and institutions that are shaping this transformation.