Since 1978 China's urbanization has risen from 18 to 45 per cent, over 350 million farmers have moved to cities or transformed their villages into towns, and the number of cities rose from under 200 to more than 650. These numbers are unprecedented in the course of human history and underscore the need for our attempt to understand what is going on in China as it rapidly urbanizes. This book examines China's urban environment to try and understand what is going on, and suggests improvements for planning the future while simultaneously preserving the past. The research in this book was conducted as part of the Urban Knowledge Network Asia (UKNA), an international research staff exchange scheme funded by the European Union's Marie Curie Actions and a continuation of the series of UKNA publications that includes Ideas of the City in Asian Settings, Cities in Asia by and for the People, and Future Challenges of Cities in Asia.
