When did the urbanization of China begin?

On the Three Stages of Urbanization in China According to the statistical bulletin of urban construction in 2003 issued by the Ministry of Construction, by the end of 2003, there were 660 cities in China, with a population of nearly 338 million and an urban area of 399,000 square kilometers, and the urbanization level was about 33%. The average level of urbanization in the world is 1998, which is 55%. After the industrial revolution, the urbanization of China has been in a backward state for a long time, because the process of urban development in China has taken a very tortuous and sometimes difficult road for a century and a half. First, the urbanization of China before modern history and the first stage of urbanization in China have no enlightenment to the urbanization development of China today, so this article will not cover it. From 1840 Opium War to 1949 when People's Republic of China (PRC) was founded 100, we can regard it as the first stage of urbanization in modern China. Its development presents some characteristics: the development of urbanization is very uneven. The process of urbanization in the southeast is fast, and the central and western regions are far less than the southeast coast. This phenomenon continues to this day. The characteristics of urban industrialization are very different. For example, Dalian, Tianjin, Qingdao, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other southeast coastal cities have not only rapidly expanded their cities, but also rapidly industrialized. Some cities in the central and western regions have not even entered the process of industrialization. The buildings, communications, factories, commerce and transportation in the southeast coastal cities have been in line with the world capitalist economic system to a considerable extent. For example, a high-rise building in a street on the Bund in Shanghai and a high-rise building in Yang Lou District in Qingdao. However, cities in other underdeveloped areas do not have these obvious industrialization characteristics. The commercialization function of the city is not obvious. There is a saying that every city in western capitalism takes the market as the center, while China takes the government and yamen as the center, like Beijing, and the Forbidden City is its center. Markets are scattered around, such as food market, flower market and porcelain mouth, all on the side, not in the center. At this stage, the city center belongs to the government, and the political and military characteristics and significance of the city are more significant and important, that is to say, the role of commercialization in China's urban form is not dominant. The abnormal development of urban culture. Due to the invasion of foreign forces, some cities along the southeast coast have been greatly influenced by western culture. At the same time, due to the long-term influence of feudal culture, some customs, traditions, dramas and local cultures of the Chinese nation also occupy a certain space. These two different cultures exist in the same urban space, but they interact with each other and develop in parallel, which is really a strange phenomenon in semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. For example, at this stage, Shanghai is far away from the traditional China city, and western culture can be seen everywhere, occupying the mainstream position, but the traditional culture of China is tenaciously surviving in this city. Such as Shanghai Opera and Yue Opera, these local operas also have a large audience. This abnormal cultural development phenomenon is puzzling. However, people think that this phenomenon is inextricably linked with the Shanghai style culture formed in Shanghai in the future. Second, the second stage of urbanization in China is about 1949 ~ 1980. During these 30 years, the urbanization of China is very difficult, and in a sense, it is in a state of "reverse urbanization". For example, the dual division of rural and urban social structure in household registration management has restricted the flow of farmers to cities, and even the phenomenon of large-scale transfer of urban population to rural areas has appeared. These practices objectively make the urbanization process in China stagnate, slow and sometimes even retrogress for a long time. The state of urbanization at this stage has the following characteristics: the development of the city is planned. The planned economy has been implemented for nearly 30 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, so the development of the city has also been clearly planned. In addition to paying attention to the development of southeast coastal cities, some industrial cities have been built in consideration of the needs of the overall national strategy. In addition, from the perspective of preparing for war, many factories and personnel have been relocated from some big cities and some third-tier cities have been built. These new cities objectively provide some positive factors for the urban layout of China, especially for the urbanization process in the central and western regions. The production function of the city is outstanding. In the process of this stage, urban construction is inseparable from the development of industrial production. Whether it is a big city or a small or medium-sized city, managing industry and transportation well is the most important task of a city. It is no exaggeration to say that the capital cities of the whole country are basically the cities with the most developed industrial production in this area. The functions of consumption, commerce and tertiary industry only occupy the position of secondary functions of the city. Excessive emphasis on production function, especially industrial production function, has laid a great hidden danger for the development of urbanization and left a huge burden for today's urbanization development. The city is still the administrative center. Maybe it is the habit of China traditional culture. At this stage, the provincial capitals are basically the largest cities in the province. By analogy, local governments at all levels are basically the largest local towns. Moreover, government offices often occupy the city center and the gold market. This phenomenon did not change slightly until after the reform and opening up. The boundary between the urban area and the suburbs of a city is clear. In the past 30 years, people in urban and suburban areas have distinct household registration management, and there are considerable differences in the goods supplied according to the plan, as well as obvious differences in architectural landscape, transportation, commerce, telecommunications facilities and so on. The overall planning and development of the city has been seriously restricted, which has also hindered the process of urbanization to some extent. Moreover, the urban population, factories and buildings are highly dense, which adds great trouble to the future development of the city. It can be said that in the past 30 years, China has made some achievements in urbanization. However, under the guidance of the concept, it is basically an anti-urbanization strategy, which leads to the slow urbanization process and sometimes even stagnation, and also accumulates a lot of contradictions, leaving many burdens and problems for the future urbanization development of China. Thirdly, the third stage of urbanization in China began in 1980s. 1982 The Central Committee and the State Council clearly put forward that "farmers are allowed to enter cities". Coupled with the gradual implementation of the market economy system in China, promoting urbanization in China, as a strategic policy for the country's future development, has been fully valued and implemented not only in theory but also in practice. . Therefore, this stage of urbanization has different characteristics from the previous two stages. Urbanization is linked with modernization. In some developed countries, the degree of urbanization is above 80%. Moreover, in contemporary society, urbanization has become a way of life. It is a modern civilized lifestyle created by urban residents with the support of abundant commodity production in market economy, which can greatly improve people's living standards and quality of life. In a sense, urbanization and modernization are the same word. If the vast majority of a country's population lives in cities, it means that the country has basically realized modernization. Therefore, China government began to abandon the previous anti-urbanization concept, reform and vigorously promote urbanization, and closely linked it with the realization of modernization. The consumption function of cities is getting stronger and stronger. In the past, the main functions of China city were political and administrative center and production center. Perhaps these functions will exist for a long time in the process of urbanization in China. But today, the function of urban consumption has begun to appear, and there is a trend of gradual strengthening. Its symbol is the rapid development of finance, trade, communication, transportation and tertiary services in some large and medium-sized cities, with the growth rate and scale exceeding that of industry. Of course, there are some differences in the consumption function of different cities, but it is gratifying that governments at all levels have begun to realize that the consumption function of cities is one of the main functions of cities, and promoting the urbanization of China cannot be separated from strengthening the construction of urban consumption functions. The strategy of urban-rural integration has been implemented. In the middle and late 1950s, China implemented a strict household registration system which was rare in the world. This household registration system may have been forced by some factors at that time, but it objectively restricted the flowing relationship between people and between people and resources, and brought many unfavorable factors to the urbanization development of China, especially caused great differences between suburbs or urban and rural areas. In the 1980s, the social shielding function of the household registration management system was greatly weakened. 2 1 century, some provinces and cities announced the cancellation of the difference between urban hukou and rural hukou. Perhaps this is not only a respect for human rights, but also the end of the long-term anti-urbanization policy. China has begun to change from the reverse flow of population between urban and rural areas to the positive flow of urbanization. As a direct result of this movement, the scale of cities began to expand, and some large and medium-sized cities began to attach importance to the construction of satellite towns. On the basis of modern three-dimensional transportation, some megacities have begun to show the "decentralization" characteristics of the second stage of urbanization in developed countries. With the implementation of the urban-rural integration strategy, both cities and rural areas can enjoy the modern civilized lifestyle brought by the development of urbanization. A metropolitan area centered on big cities has gradually formed. In the first 30 years, people complained about the development of big cities. However, in today's world, with the progress of science and technology and the leap of economy, some international metropolises have shown many advantages that cannot be ignored. Big cities are often the central cities of economic and trade activities, and their agglomeration effect has brought about high economic prosperity. Dense population and economic prosperity have also created countless employment opportunities, and their divergent effects have also formed contiguous urban agglomerations and broad regional economic growth zones, which often drive the economic development and take-off of the whole country. China has initially formed three metropolitan areas, among which the Yangtze River Delta metropolitan area with Shanghai as the center is expected to become the sixth largest metropolitan area in the world. Cities in this region will make joint efforts to build the Shanghai metropolitan area on the platform of hosting the 20 10 World Expo in Shanghai. Compared with the scattered, independent and small-scale cities in the past, the rise of these metropolitan areas with big cities as the center can make more effective use of resources and energy, improve transportation facilities, provide good education, control environmental pollution and improve population quality. Moreover, from a global perspective, it has more comparable modern significance. The gradual formation and continuous improvement of metropolitan area centered on big cities is the only way for China's urbanization development. China should cherish the achievements of urbanization since the reform and opening up, unswervingly accelerate the urbanization process and enhance coordinated development, because urbanization is closely linked with the modernization of the motherland, and cities and metropolitan areas represent the improvement of people's quality of life and the comprehensive competitiveness of a country.