ABSTRACT
As one of the greatest transformations achieved in the past century, China's urban growth has attracted attention across the world. Urbanization as measured by the proportion of the population living in urban areas has increased from 10.6 percent in 1950 to 45.7 percent in 2008 at an average annual rate of 0.6 percent. Further investigation finds that urbanization in China has demonstrated an accelerating growth rate after 1979 and has increased even faster since 2000 with an annual rise of 1.19 percent (National Bureau of Statistics of China various years). Along with the booming urban population is the rapidly expanding urban space. Urban developed areas across China, for instance, have increased from 9,386 square kilometers in 1985 to 36,295 square kilometers in 2008, at an annual rate of 6 percent over the 23-year period (NBSC various years).
