ABSTRACT
One of the most important theoretical problems for social scientists dealing with land use is the relationship between the socio-economic development of modern industrial societies and the territorial and regional organization which develops in them. One wonders whether the processes of rapid urbanization, depopulation of the countryside, centralization of production and lack of regional balance—which have characterized the industrial development of western societies—are characteristics of industrialization per se or are the result of the economic, social and political system of capitalism. This problem is extremely complex and one cannot hope to resolve it, even by considering an alternative model of industrial development such as the Chinese one which has a territorial organization markedly different from that typically found in western societies. Not only can one not make theoretical generalizations from concrete historical experiences but certain aspects of Chinese socialist development are unique. China is a vast country with ample natural resources; it is still relatively underdeveloped; and it is still predominantly agricultural. Rural communities have traditionally been of primary importance in Chinese history. All the same, an analysis of the territorial aspects of Chinese socialist development is important as a clarifying element in the theoretical debate concerning the compatibility between industrialization and alternative systems of territorial organization. We ask: Is it possible to make rapid and consistent industrial progress without paying the very high social costs usually connected with rapid urbanization, namely, increasing inequalities and the creation of relative regional and rural underdevelopment?
