Future urban-rural relationship in China

Purpose- The objective of this paper is to make a general comparison between urban-rural relationship in China and that in the developed countries aiming to draw some experiences based on which future tendencies of urban-rural relationship in China could be predicted. Design/methodology/approach- The core analysis of this paper examines how the urban-rural relationship develops especially when urbanization rate reaches a very high level. Through literature review, this paper explores the evolution of urban-rural relationship in developed nations by looking at some international cities in different industrial stages. In parallel, it goes through this relationship in China after 1949 until now. Findings- This paper shows that future urbanization development will be generated largely by rural-urban migration especially the eastern-inclined migration while rural industrialization-lead urbanization would develop at the provincial level. It points that education and training to the labor force is the crucial issue to future urbanization development in China. Originality/value- The obvious value of this paper is to predict, through a historical review and comparison, urban-rural relationship in China of high urbanization level. Literature review finds some experiences in developed countries that would somehow take place in China. It also explores the eastern-oriented rural-urban migration and rural industrialization as well as their influence to urban-rural relationship.