Causes and Effects of Wild Growth of Urban Population in China

Introduction

Urbanization does more harm than good in China. Despite the rapid development in economics and culture, it still has room for improvement. Although China is doing well in both hardware and software, the quality of civic can be enhanced.In the past, China was mainly focused on agricultural development, and the lack of urban development made the economy of China. After The Chinese economic reform(????), the urban population increased rapidly because of this strategy, which attracted many foreign investments. So, the economic development in China become an important part.

The living standard of Chinese citizens is greatly improved. In this essay, I will focus on the influence of the urbanization of China and the people from our case study.

Rapid Urbanization in China

In recent years, urbanization in China has been widely developed, and there are many large cities; for instance, the urban population of Shanghai and Beijing have increased by 89.60% and 86.35%, respectively. It shows that China has actually entered the urban era. The people who live there can enjoy a higher living standard in this country. The effects of urbanization include two major parts: people and buildings. Shenzhen is similar to Hong Kong, especially in terms of economic relationships. Shenzhen is one of the two major financial centers in Mainland China. The financial services industry plays an important role in Shenzhen. The economic position is similar to Hong Kong. Also, the transportation between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, like the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link, is convenient for people on both sides. Thus, we take the place in our site-visit place Shenzhen as the example. Shenzhen is one of the important centers for international economic exchange.

Economic Development and Foreign Investment

The involvement of foreign capital from overseas Chinese and non-mainland Chinese has greatly improved Township and Village Enterprises’ production techniques and equipment, which led to the enhancement of competitiveness. China has become one of the biggest production centers. Also, it is linked with some well-developed metropolis like Hong Kong. The resources in Shenzhen are adequate for residents and provide a comfortable living environment.

Infrastructure and Public Facilities

There are many benefits of urbanization compared to less-developed cities, especially the infrastructure. The Shenzhen metro is one of the facilities that represents urbanization in China. It is a long railway that uses the underground high-speed railway station on a long-distance route at first. Advanced technology is used in public. It shows that the urban planning in Shenzhen is comprehensive, which provides a more convenient transportation system to Chinese citizens. Compared to the undeveloped regions like the village, the transportation facilities can not give the best equipment, which leads to the village falling behind the urban city. I think the urban city in China has a completely urban development. The urban city will provide good public facilities for entertainment, like a library, music concert hall, and book city. Shenzhen city can provide these facilities adequately. In Shenzhen Children’s Palace station, Shenzhen library, music concert hall, and book city are linked together. On the inside of the book City, we can see that there are people reading books and magazines. Besides, there are some café for people resting and relaxing in the book city. It shows that the urban development (like infrastructure and public facilities) in Shenzhen is enough for the Chinese.

Urban-Rural Disparities and Social Welfare

In my eyes, urbanization in China surges the economic development. In the urban city, there are many foreign companies and enterprises like McDonald’s, Starbucks, and Apple Store, which are the most popular brands in other countries. The advantage of urban cities is that the people can try different cultures. However, there is one phenomenon that has arisen in China that has an adverse effect on urban planning. In the past, they provided a lot of resources in the eastern part of China. It makes the western part of China is lack of urbanization. After many years, the phenomenon of the urban-rural gap has formed. This phenomenon shows that the resources and facilities in urban cities compared to people in villages are relatively high. The poverty gap between urban cities and villages will become larger. Since they have to go to urban to work, the population of the village is low. Nevertheless, they cannot receive any welfare from urban. The phenomenon causes many problems, including the poverty issue. The disparity between Chinese urban and rural areas has increased over the last thirty years.

According to the official figures, when China embarked on economic liberalization in 1978, an urban family earned 2.5 times the income of a rural household. In 2012, urbanites earned 3.1 times as much. Although rural migrants earn more in cities than those who stay in the countryside, they are excluded from the social welfare benefits and subsidized housing projects often reserved for registered urban residents. The Hukou system(????) is the major difference between the urban people and village people because social welfare in the urban city does not cover the village people, but the rural area lacks social welfare. As a result of this policy, the problem becomes more serious. Actually, I seldom go to China because my image of China is dirty, perilous, and lawless. Before this site visit, I thought that it was too uncomfortable for me to travel there. The last time I went to Shenzhen was ten years ago. Although the different media always shows modern and elegant buildings in China, my impression still has not changed. After the site visit, my feeling towards China has changed so much. The hardware in China is the economics.

We know that China is one of the biggest economies in the world. The GDP in China is in the top 3 in the world. Most people think that the software in China is not enough to compare with other countries like the United States of America and Japan. However, the software in China is highly enhanced, especially international influence such as brand. Recently, there has been a new brand, “hey-tea,” which attracts many foreign visitors. In their electronic production, there are many Chinese companies that create new products independently, like Xiao-mi and Huawei. It shows that China has the ability to improve its software standards. The buildings cannot only show the technology as well but also consider different people. For example, Shenzhen Library provides facilities for visually impaired readers. It is a user-friendly design in the library. The education facilities in the library provide a STEM course to children in order to train their creativity. Shenzhen Book City is the first experimental bookstore to introduce the concept of “BookMall,” which combines the reading experience, different entertainment choices and experiences, and restaurants like Starbucks, Illy Coffee, Pizza Hut, etc. But it still needs improvements because the citizens are still uncivilized.

During the site visit, I could see that people speak loudly in the library. Also, the hygiene in toilets is bad. Also, their actions deteriorate the image of the city and decrease my favorable impression of China. Due to this, I suggest that the Chinese government should put more resources into general education so that the citizens will not affect the beautiful environment. Also, it can impress foreign visitors to China. In addition, it is good to see that China can make use of the advanced technology in their buildings. Actually, the design of Shenzhen Library and Music Hall is impressive. We can feel that the building combines oriental and occidental culture. The appearance of Shenzhen library and the front of view are similar to the composition of a crystal and three opened books, respectively. The curtain wall design can reduce energy consumption by reducing the electricity generated by artificial lights. The outward appearance of this design is spectacular. The music hall features five colors, yellow, red, green, white, and black, which signify the concepts of Chinese culture (“??” —— ?????????). The advanced building technology seems to have become more progressive in China. In the book City, the green roof adopted in this place increases the energy efficiency of the building, which is good for the environment. It is glad to see that the Chinese government introduces their culture and sustainable design in their buildings.

Conclusion

Although there are some problems remaining in China, we can see that China is improving. We should give more time for the Chinese government to improve the policy and general education in order to make a civilized society. Apart from this, I hope that China can create more innovative ideas and products so that it can become an independent country and its unique culture will not be disturbed by other countries.

References

1. Smith, John. Urbanization and Economic Development in China. 

2. Chen, Mei. The Impact of Urbanization on China’s Infrastructure. 

3. Wang, Li. Rural-Urban Disparities in China: A Socioeconomic Analysis.

4. Ministry of Transportation, China. Annual Report on China’s Transportation Infrastructure. 

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