摘要
１ＩＮＴＲＯＤＵＣＴＩＯＮＭａｎｙｗｅｓｔｅｒｎｓｃｈｏｌａｒｓｓｕｃｈａｓＣｈａｎｇＳｅｎｄｏｕ（１９６３），ＣｈｅｎｇＴｉｅｊｕｎｅｔａｌ．（１９９４），ａｎｄＳｋｉｎｎｅｒＧ．Ｗ．ｅｔａｌ（１９７７）ｐｕｔｔｈｅｉｒｒｅｓｅａｒｃｈｉｎｔｅｒｅ...
The opening of the economy has contributed to the rapid urban
development in China over the last 17 years from 1979 to 1996. It is worthwhile to note three
new development trends of Chinese urban system. The first trend identifies the emergence of
mega urbanization regions. The second trend rebuilds a closer tie between the Chinese urban
system and the global urban system through the development of the world (global) cities and
international cities. The third trend shows the fast polarized development in hinterlands and
peripheries around advanced economic regions. However, the research literature on Chinese
urbanization in English has shown the scarcity of good databanks and the analysis results are
incomplete. Some researchers also always question the quality of the data. Using the most
completed and most recent data, this paper reviews the growth of China's new designated cities
since 1949. This paper also seeks to examine the various policies and to explore the
underlying factors that have affected the growth of China new cities. From the development of
China's cities in the past 47 years from 1949 to 1996, it is easy to find that metropolitan cities
developed with a relatively high rate compared with smaller ones, but the ratio of number and
population to whole country cities remained stable; Chinese urban system development had
entered a phase of small cities development; in terms of cities regional distribution, the south
and east region is still the central area of urban development.
