We often feel that the concept of urbanization is the phenomenon of farmers moving from rural areas into cities. This is an important aspect of urbanization, of course, however, we must not forget that the degree to which populations flow between cities is also considerable. The amount of the population without a ‘houkou’ (household registration) in the census is equal to the number of people that do possess one. It is therefore important not to forget the large proportions of people in China not accounted for in the yearly government census reports. Urbanization in China is actually a re-adjustment of the urban population distribution. It is the process of disrupting a population of one place and re-concentrating them to multiple new locations.
In this process, the issues and concerns of the people flowing between cities and the people flowing from rural areas to cities are the same, such as residence, education, pension, health care and so on. Among them, the problem that must urgently be solved is that of household registration (houkou).
I think that whether this problem can be solved depends entirely on the determination of the central government and whether it is able to rise to the challenge of the legal problem. Now that it has been established that “the country will relax overall control of farmers settling in towns and small cities, and relax restrictions on their settling in an orderly fashion into medium-sized cities, China should set reasonable requirements for rural residents to obtain a hukou in large cities, as well as strictly control the size of the population in megacities." There should be specific provisions for these issues. For example, people can settle down in small towns and relevant laws can stipulate a registration system. As long as a person can provide that they have a stable place to live in and a stable job, they can register. The household registration management would become a registration system, as we now apply for a temporary resident permit. If people need to reside continuously for three years in medium-sized cities, then this provision can be stipulated. This system can and should be unified throughout the country. Whoever doesn't obey the law would then be taken to court.
Now, there are many complaints in provinces with an ever-flowing population. For example, police configuration is allocated according to the household population. There is not enough fiscal retention, school resources, or transportation resources and so on for the citizens. I think we can do some fine tuning here: police configuration would be based on the resident population. I think it is merely an excuse and an invalid argument to say that the financial retention ratio is not enough because in coastal areas the quantity of schools are less and less, while in developed regions educational resources are at a surplus. If local governments agree to this policy, they should benefit from it. Local governments can be allowed to improve educational surtax a little. Also, when the central government allocates funding for Nine-Year Compulsory Education, the government can subsidize each province according to the income level. Wealthy provinces would then be subsidized less and poverty-stricken areas subsidized more.
In the process of urbanization, I think ‘in Situ’ urbanization is not acceptable, which is completely contrary to the law of population mobility. Man struggles upwards; water flows downwards. We are willing to settle down in coastal provinces, and in Situ transfer is impossible. Population mobility must comply with market rules. If in situ urbanization, considered as a model, is promoted throughout the country, there will be a number of problems. Take a small town in Jiangxi Province as an example. In order to achieve in situ urbanization, houses are quickly built. But when you want to move to these places and transfer your accounts, the local government doesn't allow it, finally urbanization cannot be successful.
Urbanization in China has Chinese characteristics, which is difficult to compare to the experiences of other countries. For example, New York consisting of five counties, is a giant city. Resources in each county are combined to form a large New York City. When a mayor is selected in New York, the choice is not only related to the market, but also to civil society, which is autonomous in nature.
Apparently, the system in our country does not allow such cases to occur. Interjurisdictional governance is extremely tough. For example, Caofeidian is next to the Tianjin Binhai New Area. Because Caofeidian belonged to Tangshan, at that time, although Tangshan made a plan that covered 1900 square kilometers, in actuality it was built over 100 square kilometers. The development is therefore very difficult.
A good model should be the combination of the Caofeidian and Binhai New Area. Caofeidian is far superior to the Binhai New Area, and the former is an all-weather deep-draught harbor, into which dozens of ships can steam, and there is no need to dredge the mud. Mud was dredged in the Tianjin Port with high costs each year. Now Tianjin Port and Caofeidian are fighting in a price war with each other, and finally both will suffer the consequences.
If a province is considered as a unit, they will be independent in administration. The most typical example is the Central Triangle. Apparantly, interprovincial coordination is necessary in the Central Triangle. Wuhan is the leader, followed by Changsha. Urban agglomeration has formed around the area of Changsha, and the momentum of development is quite good; the industrial technology in the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan City Group is quite good. How could these areas coordinate? How is their inter-regional cooperation?
Urbanization planning is necessary. In the Decision of the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, it was proposed that the market play a decisive role in the allocation of resources. This is a good course of action. This does not mean we will allow markets do whatever they want. Urban construction cannot be completely determined by the markets, and part of it needs to be planned by the government.
In city planning, the market economy system in China is different from the systems in other countries. This lies in the fact that the local government is one of the players in the market. Governments of counties, districts, villages and towns have a lot of resources at hand, and they also have many resources to mobilize. They play a leading role in the market. With these big players, the market is by no means complete.
In this case, it is very necessary for the central government to establish a planning of urbanization. Urbanization areas should firstly be determined—i.e. which areas are worth developing, and which are not. Also, the principle of combination of large, medium-sized and small cities within certain region should be established. The pattern of urbanization must be regional urbanization. Since urban planning would get approved by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of the People’s Republic of China (MOHURD), principles can be established. The two organizations only approve selected areas giving priority to development, and won’t approve places where large-scale urban construction is carried on.
The best result of urbanization is that 40% to 50% of the population in China can be concentrated in the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta and Central Triangle. If this goal is reached, the country's environment will be greatly improved. Remote places like Guizhou will become beautiful. Beijing's population will be reduced, and we will no longer need to worry about water shortages and traffic congestion.
(This article published in the International Herald Leader, interviewed and organized by Wang Xiuqiong and Zhang Luyu, the reporter)
