Development mechanism of urban system in rapidly changing period in China

The purpose of this research is to investigate the socio-economic development mechanism of China’s urban system in terms of spatial structure and its change. Totally 246 cities from 340 designated cities in 1985, and 488 from 640 designated cities in 1995 are selected as sample cities. And 22 attributes concerning urban features are analyzed to clarify the socio-economic characteristics and their changes in the urban system. Finally, the primary development factors are verified with the relationship of spatial structure and socio-economic characteristics. In conclusion, the socio-economic changes occurred more extremely than spatial structure changes. Furthermore, foreign investment became a major power for the development of China’s urban system in the period of 1985–1995.