THE URBANIZATION AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT IN CHINA AFTER THE REFORM AND OPENING-UP

China’s urbanization process and urban construction have taken a notable achievement in the past 30 years since the reform and opening-up. Firstly, China’s urbanization has steady entered the stage of acceleration, experiencing a high speed growth that urbanization level increases 0.93 point per year since 1978. Although China’s urbanization level is 8.40 percent lower than the world average’s, urbanization rate of China is 2.14 percent higher than that of the world average. On taking about half a century to achieve the medium stage of urbanization, China’s urbanization is expected to go into the mature stage of urbanization 25 years later. Secondly, several times of adjustment on the path of China’s urbanization has provided a strong impetus to China’s urbanization in a healthy direction, as well as form an urban system with reasonable industrial division of labor, orderly spatial competition and efficient market operation. The rational urban system prompts China’s urban agglomerations into the basic geographic unit to participate in a national competition in the global labor division, the first position of country’s comprehensive reform and the domination of China’s economic development. Thirdly, theoretical study on urbanization has improved continuously, along with the merging of relevant research institutions and talents. Nevertheless, a series of urgent problems, which will have a direct impact on China’s urbanization development and better prospects for the future, come forth inevitably in China’s urbanization process. Based on resources and environment capacity, a path of resource-conserving and environment-friendly healthy urbanization should be taken for China’s future urbanization development, emphasizing on promoting the quality of urbanization. Furthermore, China’s future urbanization development should go in for a structure of healthy urbanization, with the coordinated development of urban agglomerations, big, medium and small cities, small towns, urban and rural areas, as well as the comprehensive development of resource-conserving, environment-friendly, economic-effective and social-harmony.