Urban System and Urban Development in the People’s Republic of China

Abstract

There is a trend of population concentration towards large coastal cities in The People’s Republic of China (PRC). However, there is a distortion of city size towards small cities in the PRC. That is to say, urban population in China should further concentrate in large cities rather than be more equally spread out. Cross-country analysis also indicates that the population size of the primary city in the PRC is smaller than its predicted value. The discussion in this chapter suggests that the Chinese government should adjust the policies on future urbanization with fewer restrictions on the further growth of megacities.