THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS AND BASIC PATTERN OF CHINA'S SMALL TOWNS SINCE 1949 AND ITS RECENT NEW SITUATION

During the past 60 years of PRC, the status and function of small towns have been constantly upgraded, which have played the roles not only as the bases and bridges to link the urban and rural areas, but also as the hubs for the overall plan of urban and rural development. Through the analysis of historical information and the statistical data, the development of small towns in the era of PRC can be divided into five phases, i.e. restoration and early adjustment, degradation and stagnation, revival of development, rapid development, coordination and enhancement. During the last more than 30 years of Reform and Opening-up, the growth of small towns in China has shifted from quantitative increase to the expansion of scale. However, there has become tremendous differences and serious polarization among regions. Nowadays, the agglomerations of small towns have been shaping in the Yangtze River and the Pearl River Deltas,and also in the North China and the Chengdu Plains. In recent years, the environment for the development of small towns in China has gone through drastic changes:the improvement of transportation infrastructure has fostered the regional advantage of small towns; in the ongoing transfer of industry gradient at home and abroad and the trend of industrial upgrading, the booming of industries in small towns has come about. Specialization of the production is continuously deepening, and the special industries of small towns are gradually being formed; featured economic plots and specialized towns have appeared in coastal areas of Southeast China. The comprehensive capacity of small towns is becoming remarkable, which is to be a significant element in the process of urbanization with Chinese characteristics.