14.1.11

Case Study: China's Urbanisation

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China’s Urbanisation

The urbanisation of China is one of the main reasons why Asia is the region with the highest urbanisation rate so far in the 21st century. China's cities (e.g. Chongqing) have grown hugely through rural-urban migration.

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The growth of China’s cities

  • Since the 1980s, China’s urban population has increased from 17% to 58%.
  • During this time, 640 million people migrated from rural to urban areas.
  • In 1990, Chongqing in central China has a population of 2 million. By 2014, it had a population of 12.9 million.
  • This makes Chongqing a megacity as it has over 10 million people. (There are no megacities in the UK).
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Reasons for China's growth

  • China’s cities have grown because of large-scale rural-urban migration.
  • Factories in urban areas offered jobs that were better paid than agricultural work in rural areas as the manufacturing sector in China grew.
  • The workforce who moved to the city has helped China to develop as urban areas in China now produce 80% of China's GDP.
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New cities in China

  • China is different from other places in the world because it has been building entire, brand-new cities for people to move into.
  • In 2017, China announced that is would build a new city called Xiongan.
  • Xiongan will be 60 miles south of Beijing and will grow to 3 times the size of New York.
  • The city of Xiongan will have universities, companies, and institutions provided by the capital of Beijing.
  • China is building these cities so that people can move from existing, overcrowded cities to new ones for a better quality of life.
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Pollution in China’s cities

  • Air pollution is a key problem that China has faced with its urbanisation.
  • Beijing is the worst place in China for air quality. In 2016, the air quality got so bad in Beijing that schools had to hold all sports lessons inside.
  • Air pollution leads to an increase in deaths and causes health problems for the local population.
  • Air pollution comes from coal-fired power stations. The use of coal as a relatively cheap source of energy has helped China to industrialise and develop.

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