Urban expansion in contemporary China: What can we learn from a small town?

Abstract

Rapid physical expansion of urban land use is widely observed in Chinese cities. Although there is a consensus that economic liberalization and decentralization of administrative responsibilities explain the urban changes, it is not clear whether or not actual economic and population growth is the only cause of urban expansion. By using a small town as a case study, this paper shows that urban expansion is a combined outcome of actual needs, planning preparations, profit-seeking, and more importantly, the approach used by local government to achieve economic ambitions. Findings show that local economic and demographic changes do contribute to land-use expansion, but a local development approach that uses urban expansion to improve the competitive edge of the locality plays a critical role. A pro-growth coalition consisting of top local government officials, state work-unit leaders, and developers, whose interests align for short-term gain in economic and political terms, guarantee the mobilization of resources for carrying out the rapid urban expansion, and a vision of the local economic success. These findings add in a new dimension that is not yet seen in the study of China's urban expansion.

Introduction

A profound change in contemporary urban China is the rapid expansion of urban land areas. On a national scale, China's urban land increased by 817,000 ha in the period 1990–2000 (Liu et al., 2005, 450). This is about 12 Singapores created in a decade. On a local scale, individual cities added huge amounts of new land to their built-up areas. For example, large cities such as Beijing and Guangzhou experienced increases in urban land use of 30–50% in a time frame of 15 years (Wu et al., 2006; 327; Yu and Ng, 2007, 100). Urban agglomerations such as the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region expanded more than 70% in the same decade (Tan et al., 2005, 187), while the Pearl River Delta region showed similar increases in urban built-up areas (Li and Yeh, 2004). Small cities expanded even faster than the larger ones. In the Beijing–Tianjin–Tangshan region the urban area of small cities increased by 80% in the period 1990–2000 (Tan et al., 2005, 190).

Three explanations of China's rapid urban expansion can be identified in the current literature. First, rapid urban expansion is a result of the growth of population and the economy. Fast growth of GDP, income, and the rising level of urbanization caused rapid urban land expansion. This argument is supported by statistical analyses that incorporate socioeconomic data into the land cover change database and confirm the relationships between urban expansion and changes in population and income (e.g., Tan et al., 2005, Liu et al., 2005, Wu et al., 2006). Changes in economic structure extended urban economic activities to the periphery regions and thus caused urban expansion (Naughton, 1995). Second, rapid urban expansion is a result of government planning for economic growth. New development projects in the urban fringe areas such as industrial parks reflect government efforts in promoting local development by setting up the infrastructure ready for outside investors (Deng and Huang, 2004, Wu et al., 2007). Third, rapid urban expansion is a result of profit-seeking by multiple actors in the development process. These include government officials seeking opportunities to generate income for their plans, developers seeking new sites to generate income, and government agencies seeking projects for danwei (work unit)-related gains (Logan, 2002, Ma, 2002, Wu, 2000, Wu, 2002, Han and Wang, 2003, Xiao et al., 2006, Yu and Ng, 2007). The importance of local government is especially highlighted, as it often plays a leading role in Chinese ‘growth machine’, in contrast to the private-sector-driven coalitions in western cities. In China, many of the developers are state agencies (Ma, 2002, Logan, 2002, Han and Wang, 2003, Deng and Huang, 2004, Qian, 2007).

The purpose of this paper is to add a new perspective to the study of China's urban transition, by examining the driving forces of urban expansion in a small town. The novelty of the paper is to bring to the spotlight that the dynamic process of urban expansion in China includes an approach that uses urban expansion itself as a means to an end – an agent for long-term local economic development. Thus urban expansion in China is beyond a mere market response to population or economic growth, or, a planning response to the forecast of future space need, or, a result of seeking monetary rewards. The research shows that urban expansion creates an opportunity for building up a renewed modern urban image which is a visible form to project the economic strength and the presence of capable local government leaders. A properly built modern urban image would differentiate a city from others and thus create or reinforce the advantages of a locality for investment. This approach is different from the narrowly defined concept of jing ying cheng shi (managing cities) which advocates the trade of urban land for development funds. The use of urban expansion as a development tool integrates multiple dimensions. In formulating local strategies for urban expansion, local government leaders take into consideration and plan for economic and demographic changes. In implementing these growth strategies local leaders rely upon their administrative power to lure or force other actors to participate; this is supplemented by creating opportunities for profit-seeking that serve as an incentive for other actors to participate.

The sections following begin with a review of urban expansion in China. Data and method are then discussed. This is followed by an overview of urban expansion and land-use change in the case-study area. The next sections examine the impact of economic and demographic changes on urban expansion and the multiple players associated with it. A new aspect of urban expansion is presented, which is followed by discussion and conclusion.