1999•International Journal of Social EconomicsRequires access
Socioeconomic characteristics of rural urbanization in Southern Jiangsu, China
Wang De
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Abstract
Rural urbanization in China has been discussed by many scholars since the 1980s. In this paper, Wuxi and Jiangyin, two counties in China’s most developed area of southern Jiangsu, were selected as target areas. Four characteristics of rural urbanization, namely, multilevel transfer of rural population into urban population; dispersed spatial pattern; urbanization lagging behind industrial development; and important role of towns in rural urbanization, were analyzed. Through an analysis of the socioeconomic development of Wuxi and Jiangyin, three trends in future development of rural urbanization can be predicted: rural population will continue to progress from lower to higher level and from incomplete to complete form; small towns will continue to develop rapidly and differentially; and rural migrants in regional cities will gradually increase.