ABSTRACT
This chapter explores urbanization in China, beginning with a brief discussion of the situation as revealed by the 1982 census, and then turning to an assessment of policies introduced in the 1980s to affect urbanization levels and to transform the economic structure of the countryside. The Inibrrelations between economic development and urbanization are highly complex. In December 1963, the criteria defining urban places were changed and the minimum resident population needed to qualify a place as urban was increased. China's urbanization policy since 1949 has reflected divergent views about urbanization's role in the development process and the extent to which urban growth should be controlled. The developing urbanization process in China, as elsewhere, involves not only the reclassification of places, but also population redistribution. China's basic urbanization policy calls for vigorous efforts to build up small cities and towns.
