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opportunity-china.co.uk
December 2014
Wang Lu, a senior government adviser of HainanProvince, says the
government shouldmake efforts in human-focused urbanisation, stating,
“Currently the rate of urbanisation inChina is 53.7 percent. However, less than
40 percent of migrants have city household registration. Therefore, there is still
over 10 percent of the populationwithout (access to) equalised city services.”
Many within the press and academia have pointed towards successful
instances of western urbanisation and urbanmanagement as a blueprint for
China’s process. In reference to judgingwhether a city is urbanising positively,
Daniel Doctoroff, CEO of Bloomberg and also the former deputyMayor of New
York City explains, “Theway we judge, certainly inAmerica, the success or
failure of a city is actually about its ability to grow. Andwe have an attitude that
growth, at least smart growth, is good and it’s the best evidence that what you’re
offering as a city is successful; that the freemarket of peoplemoving in and out,
of jobsmoving in and out, of visitorsmoving in and out, is the best evidence
of success.”
Transportation is also considered an important part of urbanisation. Doctoroff
saysmaking the citymorewalkable could also be helpful. “One of the pieces
of advice that I would probably give toBeijing is continue to focus onways of
making it morewalkable, creatingmuchmore activity on the street level, and
that obviously is a difficult thing to do.”
According to this year’s government work report, Chinawill carry out a new
type of people-centred urbanisation that will grant rural peoplewho live in cities
more social welfare currently enjoyed by the city dwellers. The report says China
will grant urban residency to around 100million rural peoplewho havemoved
to cities, rebuild rundown city areas and villages inside cities where around
100million people live, and guide the urbanisation of around 100million rural
residents of the central andwestern regions in cities there; all of which are goals
that are easier said than done.
HuangMing, vice public securityminister, says that
under the plan the greatest increase in urban residents will
be recorded in small cities. That goal is to be achieved by
controlling themeasures for applying for urban hukou in
major centers.
According toHuang, “We should strictly control the
population in the biggest cities. Themeasures for applying
(for urbanhousehold registration) should be based on an open,
fair and orderedprinciple, probablywith a points-based system.
And for peoplewho are eager to apply for the urban hukou,
it would be easier for them to apply in small cities rather than
inhuge ones.”
Huang adds that suchmeasures are also aimed at relieving
pressure on big city residents, who are now facing “urban
diseases” such as traffic jams, low capacity in dealingwith
sewage and garbage, and pollution in air, water and soil.
According to the newly-released plan, the country should
further relocate the distribution of resources among
developed anddeveloping regions (see page 12).
Themain idea of the government’s new-type urbanisation
approach is to guarantee equal services for all residents, no
matter where they are living. Qi Ji, viceminister of Housing
andUrban-Rural Development, outlined the necessary steps
required. “For rural residents whomove into cities, they should
be guaranteed affordable housing, so they should all be
covered by our housing security system. And thenwe need to
graduallymake basic social services available to all permanent
residents.” Qi has also stated that the new type of urbanisation
shouldbe ecologically-minded as well.
ChenGang, ViceMayor of Beijing, has previously stated
that every yearmore than 500,000 people come toBeijing.
Chen says the population inBeijing has reachedmore than
21million, with8million being from themigrant population.
Alongside the household registration issue, the city is finding it
increasingly hard to deal with the rapid growth in its population
due to limited energy, land andwater.
According to Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, urbanisation is
the certain route tomodernisation and an important basis for
integrating the urban and rural structures.
Household registration reform is aprerequisite for achieving
such integration.
Thewaywe judge,
certainly inAmerica,
the successor
failureof acity is
actuallyabout its
ability togrow.
“
Photography: BejanSiavoshy
