Urbanizing China

(Hardback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Can China now be considered urbanized Unlike earlier studies that viewed China as a peasant or rural society, this book focuses on the question of whether China is already urbanized. Each of the contributors considers the degree to which the town-country dichotomy has been obliterated in the China of the 1980s and 1890s. The contributors to the volume, who are from China, Hong Kong, the United States, and Canada, collectively address China's past and continuing transformation, the multiple factors influencing the urbanization of Chinese society, and the strengths and weaknesses in China's transformation. China's urbanization, the authors claim, can be traced to two successful development strategies - small town development and coastal economic reforms. These strategies, however, raise the question of how China should deal with uneven and inequitable regional growth. China's solution, Guldin says, has been to mix economic liberalization and an emphasis on small town development with a still significant degree of central planning. The work is interdisciplinary, with contributions from the fields of sociology, geography, anthropology, and urban planning. It should be of interest to scholars from all of those disciplines with a special interest in China.

Reviews

Students of urban China will benefit from the essays in this collection. They deal with the latest developments in urban China, but several authors included historical information that provides a useful perspective on the contemporary scene. . . . All students of urban China should read the essays. The usefulness of the book is further enhanced by an annotated list of references.-Geographical Review
The contributors to this volume directly confront a variety of important substantive, methodological, and policy-related issues pertinent to Chinese urbanization in a straightforward manner. . . . Much of what is gleaned is pertinent to the situations of other developing Asian societies and beyond.-American Journal of Sociology
"The contributors to this volume directly confront a variety of important substantive, methodological, and policy-related issues pertinent to Chinese urbanization in a straightforward manner. . . . Much of what is gleaned is pertinent to the situations of other developing Asian societies and beyond."-American Journal of Sociology
"Students of urban China will benefit from the essays in this collection. They deal with the latest developments in urban China, but several authors included historical information that provides a useful perspective on the contemporary scene. . . . All students of urban China should read the essays. The usefulness of the book is further enhanced by an annotated list of references."-Geographical Review

Author Bio

GREGORY ELIYU GULDIN is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Pacific Lutheran University. He is the author of several articles, editor of Anthropology in China: Defining the Discipline, and is writing a forthcoming book, From Malinowski to Morgan to Mao: The Sage of Anthropology in China.