ABSTRACT
The word ‘revolution’ is a classic buzzword in China’s discourse, but with new connotations. In the contemporary context it can be used to describe China’s urban changes since gai ge kai fang (‘reform and opening up’) was launched in 1978. China, historically a predominantly rural society, has been moving towards an urban society at an unprecedented and unparalleled speed. This rural-urban shift has been occurring along with fundamental changes to China’s economic structure, social and legal organization and political institutions. These changes are transformative rather than transitory, functioning through a variety of complex and interrelated factors. They manifest themselves in the expanding urban landscape (Morley 2009). Of the numerous scholarly investigations into China’s urban revolution, there is a consensus that China’s urbanization has been largely driven by demographic change, economic growth and changes in land use policies and regulations (Liu et al. 2005). This chapter argues that the driving forces are actually more encompassing and examines how these factors have been working as determinants as well as indicators of China’s urban revolution. The chapter documents China’s urbanization in terms of demographic change and urban area growth. It elaborates on the property boom as both a key driver and an outcome of China’s economic growth during the urban revolution – with new wealthy classes having grown out of this socio-economic reshuffl ing. The chapter then considers key law reforms which have worked as legal frameworks (and facilitators of change) in three spheres: housing reform, land reform and property law. These interwoven reforms, it is argued, represent the beginning (or early stage) of a process of profound change, with even more dramatic change anticipated in the future.
