Rural-Urban Segregation in China

  • Kok-Chiang Tan Tan University of Guelph
Keywords: Rural-Urban Segregation, Spatial Reconstruction, Regulation of Population Mobility, Space Economy

Abstract

It is generally believed that because of a massive program of dispersed state owned industrialization and strict regulation of population mobility, China has created a new pattern of rural and urban settlements and has thus successfully wiped out the type of dualism left over from the era of direct foreign influence in Third World states. China's strategy of spatial reconstruction is, therefore, thought to be a positive experience for the rest of the Third World. Drawing from wide-ranging Chinese materials, the purpose of this paper is to present an alternative view concerning the Chinese space economy. The paper will show that, because the Chinese strategy was based on the segregation between the city and the countryside, a new kind of dualism has arisen in China which has brought forth a whole new set of problems for both the city and the countryside. Despite their initial success, the recent attempts at promoting rural non-farm activities and small towns are encountering complex hurdles because they have been carried out within the existing context of rural-urban segregation.

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Published
2016-02-15
Issue
Vol 13 (1993): Special Issue: Changing Rural Systems
Section
Articles
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