ABSTRACT
China’s vast physical landscape is defined by its steep mountain ranges, fertile valleys and alluvial plains drained by a network of rivers that emerge into its long coastline. The first cities in China were located in the fertile basins and river valleys and then, following the influence of foreign trade, further urbanisation was concentrated along the coastline. The spatial pattern of human settlement was a result of thousands of years of political territorialism, urbanisation and periods of disunity, war and peace (Elvin 2004; Yu 1992; Skinner 1977) (Figure 12.1). Thus, although the process of hyper-rapid urbanisation in the People’s Republic of China has resulted in the emergence of new cities in just three to five years, the creation of the present-day urban landscape is the continuation of a process that has ancient roots (Figure 12.2).
