读《中华民国专题史第九卷城市化进程研究》——兼及近代华北区域城市史研究的若干趋向

Review on Thematic History of Republican China vol.9:A Study on the Urbanization Process and Several Trends of the North China Regional Urban History Studies

《中华民国专题史第九卷城市化进程研究》是新近出版的一部以民国时期中国的城市化进程为研究对象,以近代华北区域城市发展为中心的专著。该书一方面从中小城市和小城镇研究偏少的局面进一步改观、交通枢纽城镇特别是铁路沿线城镇研究异军突起、城市空间与社会生活研究日益拓展、城市地位更易的研究受到更多关注等方面体现了近代华北区域城市史研究的最新进展,另一方面也反映出这一领域仍存在理论方法探讨相对薄弱、城镇体系的论述稍显不足、抗战时期城镇研究亟待加强、小城镇社会史研究有待拓展等不足之处。但就总体而言,该书仍然对今后华北区域城市史研究具有十分重要的参考价值。

Thematic History of Republican China vol.9：A Study on the Urbanization Process is a recently published monograph which studies Republican China＇s urbanization process with special focus on the urban development of the North China region.It on the one hand reveals several latest outstanding advances in the study of North China urban history,such as the former ignored studies on small and mediumsized cities and small towns becoming much more fruitful,studies on transport hub cities and towns especially those along the railways suddenly coming to the fore,urban space and social life studies increasingly expanding,studies on the changes of city status attracting more attention;on the other hand,it also reflects some problems still existing in this research area,for example the need of strengthening the theoretical foundations and research methods,further illustration of the cities and towns＇ system,studies of cities and towns during the Anti-Japanese War deserving more attention,the need of expanding the social history studies of small towns,and so on.But overall,the book still has great reference value for the future urban history studies on the North China region.