Urbanisation in China: regional development and co-operation among cities
Abstract
This paper examines the regional patterns of urbanisation in China and co-operation among Chinese cities. By studying the case of Shanghai, the authors show that the central government's objective is to develop regional urban clusters and to promote exchanges and relations on a regional basis. Regional cities adopt different methods to exploit their geographical advantages. The analysis of the regional development of Chinese cities also underlines a broader question related to the optimum size of cities, and the emergence of city networks. For financial reasons, cities have favoured expansion rather than co-operation. In the Yangtze River Delta, competition is fierce among cities to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) and thus benefit from new infrastructures. Regional co-operation among Chinese cities is still not effective, therefore more policies needs to be implemented to increase coordination, as opposed to replication and competition. The way in which cities finance themselves needs to be reformed to reach this objective.
Origin : Files produced by the author(s)
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