Home>Course>[CHES5155] Urban China>

This course is to review the process of urbanization in China since 1949 with an emphasis on changes in the last few decades, and to investigate how this process has transformed the Chinese society. Starting with an urban population of no more than 20% in the 1950s, China has turned into an urbanized country with more than 50% of her citizens living in an urban environment. This seminar will examine the socioeconomic, political, and cultural facets of urbanization in China. The goal of this course is to introduce to students the key themes and concepts in urban studies and help students develop a critical observation and analysis regarding the process of urbanization and its lived experiences in the Chinese context.

Topics include what was the urban experience during Mao’s period? How did the economic reform transform the urban setting of China? How to conceptualize the current development of urban China? What is the evolution of social structure in urban China? How should we theorize the urbanization process in China?

Urbanism and the Rise of Urban China

Part 1: Urbanizing China

• Before the Reform: Danwei / Work Unit Urbanism
• Reform to Present, New Processes of city building: Xiaoqu and Gated Communities
• Urban Neighborhood Governance: Now and Then

Part 2: The Urban Social/Structural Transformation

• The Rise of Urban Middle Class
• Public Holiday
• The Urban-Rural Divide: Moving from Rural to Urban, Hukou, Internal Migration
• A Divided Urbanism

Part 3: Urban Life

• Urban Consumption and The New Chinese Metropolis: Shanghai
• Housing Consumption, Spatial Differentiation and Residential Inequalities in Urban China

Part 4: Urban Development and Regeneration

• Skyscrapers, Mega-events and City Branding
• Gentrification in Urban China
• China’s State-led Urbanization/ Politics of Urban Development