EVENTS

Abstract

From 1949 to 1978, due to constraints within and abroad, China gave priority to the development of heavy industry. This widened the gap between industry and agriculture, urban areas and rural areas in terms of development and people’s income. From 1978 to the 1990s, since reform and opening-up, urbanization in Western China greatly accelerated. The number and size of cities increased and the positive effects of urbanization began to emerge. The urbanization process in Western China faced constraints of resource-oriented growth, administration-led public management and absence of circular development. This led to slowing down of urbanization in the West and created a huge gap between Eastern and Western China. The urbanization in Western China still faces many challenges, namely, adverse natural conditions, fragile ecological environment, poor infrastructure, constraints due to household registration system, low degree of market economy and less qualified human resources. Therefore, it is even more important for the central and local governments to develop innovative strategies based around the land system, household registration system and fiscal and finance systems.

About the Speaker

Dr. Fei Long is currently a Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Chinese Studies. He received his Ph.D. degree in Public Management from the School of Government, Peking University in 2003. His research interests now focus on the comparative study of development strategies for economically backward regions in India and China. Dr. Long has several years of service and research experience in public and private sectors.