ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book deals with welfare programs in urban China, covering aspects of social security reform, healthcare demand and health financing reform, housing reform, and the welfare of urban workers as a result of rural reforms. It also deals with urban environment issues, including changes in energy demand in the midst of rapid urbanization, environmental health and anthropogenic emissions, and city transient crimes. The book analyzes labor market development in the midst of China's urbanization, to income disparities, including rural-urban disparity, regional disparity, and poverty within the urban sector. It focuses on Social Security Reform in China. China has legislated a mixed social security pension system with a defined benefit pay-as-you-go portion and an investment-based defined contribution portion. The book examines China's urban housing situation and analyzes a dynamic process in which the Chinese urban housing fully commercializes.
