A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR SUSTAINABLE URBANISATION IN FUTURE CHINA

Rapid urbanisation of China is a phenomenon putting huge pressure on the society, environment and services in the existing cities. The growth of large regional centres is usually seen as an unwelcome but unavoidable both source and result of the Chinese urbanisation. The paper disputes this 'unavoidability' claim. The reasons for the present day urbanisation and concurrent 'de-ruralisation' processes in China are outlined. Opportunities arising from IT-age technologies as life style-generating agents are presented. They are matched with the corresponding characteristics of the rural setting. The paper examines a possibility of urbanisation based on the existing village networks. A brief presentation of various possible social and economic benefits, derived from the village urbanisation, follows. The offered solution could adequately address issues of accommodation and job provision without losing energy expenditure and sustainable use of scarce resources from its focus. Environmental benefits stemming from this different approach to problems of development are then discussed. The paper is concluded with an attempt to predict whether (if at all) and to what extent the proposal of the urban village is a feasible alternative to the current trends in the most populous country in the world.