On 17 January, 2012, the Department of Statistics of China announced that, for the first time in its long history, there were more people now living in urban agglomerations than in the rural sector. This is a major milestone in the history of the country and one that marks a major transition and transformation – an urban transformation - with major implications for the future of the country. China’s urban population will continue to grow rapidly in the coming decades with between 300-350 million people moving into urban areas in the next two decades.
UNDP’s choice of topic for its National Human Development Report 2012/2013 themed ‘Sustainable, Liveable Cities’ was influenced by this historic landmark. The decision was also influenced by the clear trend of recent years of the leadership of China to placing greater emphasis on the quality of development and away from focusing exclusively on the quantity of economic growth.
The purpose of this report is to examine some of the most important trends in this urban transformation with impacts on human development. The report provides a comprehensive contribution to approaches, opportunities and challenges for China to achieve a sustainable urbanization process in full respect of its human development demands. The report examines the recent trends of urban growth, including the features of growth and its implications for the future. It will look into the overall impact of the shift to an urbanized China and identify future options available to address challenges that arise along the way. Moreover, the report will explore critical human development challenges presented by urbanization in China, including employment, health, mobility, equity and resource availability. The report will provide a set of options and recommendations for addressing China’s human development challenges in the urbanization process.
Año: 2013 Tipo: Informes nacionales Región: Asia-Pacífico País: China
