Danlin Yu – författare

This book answers the call for NewUrbanization, and proposesa “5+9+6” nationalspatial layout plan for the urbanizationof the 770 major cities in China. This macro pattern is based on a fewmajor metropolises at the center, and other cities supporting and benefitting from thesemetropolises to form a pyramid-like urban hierarchical system. The book also presents a comprehensiveregionalization plan for China’s New Urbanization and strategic approaches to improving the quality of thisNew Urbanization. 

Currently, China is aggressively promoting a so-called New Urbanization, which has been regarded as one of the primaryways to build a moderately prosperous society, to address critical issuesrelated to agriculture,rural regions and farmers, to expand domestic demand and promote industrial innovation, and to realize the China Dream.From a systematic perspective and using recently released urban data, theauthors analyze the current status of New Urbanization in China and also investigatethe various potential problems and obstacles to its concrete implementation. Based on the analysesand investigations, the authors propose strategic directions, paths and basicprinciples for China’s New Urbanization. In addition, they clearly identify the three differentmodes of New Urbanization, namely, the general mode, differentiated mode, and gradual mode.

Today, many scholars argue that China’s urban regions areexperiencing a highly unsustainable mode of development. Chinese cities areheavily burdened by theso-called “urban diseases,”which are characterized e.g.by congested traffic, polluted water and air, and a lack of open and green spaces. Traditionalurbanization, which primarily focuseson economic development, mustbe fundamentally reformed. New Urbanization, which focuses on integrated economic development,social integration and space/environmental sustainability, or simply put, on the quality ofurbanization, has been called for to provide a potential “cure” for these urban diseases. Due to the vastness of China’spopulation and its rapidly growing economic, political and cultural relationshipswith the rest of the world,the book demonstrates thatthe success of this New Urbanization is critical not only to the future of urban China,but also the future of urbanization worldwide.

The book combs through extensively 32,231 urban agglomeration related works during the past 120 years to explore a theoretically supported and practically based definition of urban agglomeration. Based on the definition, the authors explore intensively the fundamental characteristics, spatiotemporal differentiation properties, and existing issues for China’s sustainable urban agglomeration development for the past 35 years. The study proposes that China shall focus on the construction and sustainable development of five primary national-level urban agglomerations. In the meantime, China shall also steadily and gradually construct 9 regional urban agglomerations and guide the development and growth of 6 local urban agglomerations. In the long run, China will have a hierarchical “5+9+6” closely integrated hierarchical urban agglomeration spatial structure. The study also proposes to coordinate the construction and development of urban agglomerations on the “two belts and one road” toform a national new urbanization development strategic pattern that enables “the axis to connect the agglomerations while the agglomerations support the axis.” Furthermore, the study investigates a variety of strategic thinking and suggestions for creating innovative, green and ecologically friendly, intelligent, low-carbon, open, culture-oriented, market-oriented and shared urban agglomerations in China.

This book will be a comprehensive reference both for scholars and decision-makers engaged in urban development and planning and environmental protection departments. It can also serve as textbook for graduate students of relevant fields.