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Integration of Rural and Urban Society in China and Implications for Urbanization, Infrastructure, Land and Labor in the New Era

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Integration of Rural and Urban Society in China and Implications for Urbanization, Infrastructure, Land and Labor in the New Era South Asian Journal of Social Studies and Economics 2(3): 1-13, 2018; Article no.SAJSSE.45575 Integration of Rural and Urban Society in China and Implications for Urbanization, Infrastructure, Land and Labor in the New Era Haiying Feng1 and Victor R. Squires1* 1BeiBu Gulf University, Qinzhou, Guangxi, China. Authors’ contributions This work was carried out in collaboration between both authors. Both authors read and approved the final manuscript. Article Information DOI: 10.9734/SAJSSE/2018/v2i329634 Editor(s): (1) Dr. Angel Paniagua Mazorra, Department of Economics and Politics, Scientific Researcher of OPIS, Instituto de Políticas y Bienes Públicos, Spain. (2) Dr. John M. Polimeni, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Albany, USA. (3) Dr. Turgut Tursoy, Associate Professor, Department of Banking & Finance, Faculty of Economics & Administrative Sciences, Near East University, Turkey. Reviewers: (1) Sergey A. Surkov, International Institute of Management LINK Zukovsky, Russia. (2) Abraham K. Kisang, Kenyatta University, Kenya. (3) K. Shobha, Government Arts College Coimbatore, India. Complete Peer review History: http://www.sdiarticle3.com/review-history/45575 Received 10 October 2018 Commentary Accepted 22 December 2018 Published 15 January 2019 ABSTRACT In many parts of China, rapid economic growth, socio-economic inequality, and environmental degradation (air, water, soil) are undermining social stability and sustainable urbanization. Rural- urban migration is the main factor contributing to urban population growth. Economic opportunity in urban areas is the main ‘pull factor’ but government policies provide a ‘push factor’. A model of the relationship over time of the rural sector and the urban sectors, mainly relating to the focus on manufacturing and the services sector, is discussed. Each sector provides a market for the other. We use three cameos of different types of urban-rural development taking examples from a Prefecture-level city of about 500,000 population located in Guangxi Autonomous Region in south east China. We analyze the infrastructure plan and land use planning in respect to the impact on labor, investment and urban growth. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ *Corresponding author: Email: [email protected]; Feng and Squires; SAJSSE, 2(3): 1-13, 2018; Article no.SAJSSE.45575 Keywords: Urbanization; migration; vocational training; rail; ports; transport hub; smart manufacturing; marine aquaculture; integration; governance. 1. CONTEXT AND SETTING needs became important determinants of household surplus labor. In order to diversify the China is a big country undergoing unprecedented household income, surplus labor began to economic development. The words ‘New Era’ in engage in off farm work. However, the pull factor the title of this paper reflect the thinking of (Fig. 3) created by enterprise labor demand led President Xi Jinping at the 19th Communist Party many peasant workers to leave the countryside Congress in Beijing in October, 2017 when he even when they were not surplus to agricultural laid out his vision in the document ‘Thought on production. Mobility has further been ensured by Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New a set of policies diminishing central state control Era’. The New Era represents a change in over provincial and lower administrative units, direction in China’s development away from a which can now establish their own economic focus solely on GDP (Gross Domestic Product) priorities. The new provincial and local economic growth towards Green development and creation strategies – especially in middle and larger urban of an ‘ecological civilization’. This is not to say areas – include bringing in cheap labor to work in that GDP will be disregarded but rather that it will construction, manufacturing and other service be framed within the overall benefit of the country sectors. On the other side of the spectrum, and its peoples. decentralization policies in the rural areas have encouraged local governments to actively China's economic transformation since 1978 promote and facilitate out-migration in order to has been remarkable, including incredibly rapid increase village living standards through growth of China’s cities. Over the last several migrant’s remittances. Increasing proportions of decades, employment opportunities generated rural households and village income are indeed by industrialization and the expansion of the being derived from both migration and other non- urban construction and service sectors, along agricultural activities. with the gradual relaxation of controls on population movements have stimulated rural- Mass migration has impacts on rural urban migration on a massive scale. It is well development in a number of ways, including the understood that the flow of cheap labor out of loss of labor, changes in household age and agriculture to non-agricultural sectors improves gender structure and off-farm income [1,2]. economic efficiency and provides an important source of economic growth. Less understood The key questions relate to migration's impact are the significant impacts of rural-to-urban on: migration on rural development. Mass migration has impacts on rural development in a number income mobility, of ways, including the loss of labor, changes in poverty alleviation, household age and gender structure and off- education, farm income [1]. health and nutrition of migrant children, and 2. RURAL-URBAN MIGRATION the assimilation of migrant workers into the urban environment. Mobility of rural people in China’s countryside was first enhanced by the newly implemented A new policy of rural urban migration was household responsibility system [HRS], which in announced in 2012 chengzhenhua ( 城 镇 化 , 1982 dismantled the communes and gave rural literally ‘city- and town-ization’. The Chinese households individual contracts to farm government’s plans to move some 250 million agricultural land. A more efficient and productive rural residents into new towns and cities by 2050 use of resources – including labor – allowed for (and 80 million by 2020). Unprecedented’ is the greater agricultural output and income, as word commonly used to describe China’s markets for rural products thrived. The household urbanization 都市化. Yet the country remains less became the main unit of production, at the same urbanized than most developed countries. What time that it acquired greater freedom of labor makes China’s urbanization process remarkable allocation as well as in migration decisions. Both and, indeed, unprecedented is its magnitude and household size and structure (the household speed. Today, 51% of the Chinese population live development cycle) as well as land cultivation in cities as compared to the 19% that did so in 2 Feng and Squires; SAJSSE, 2(3): 1-13, 2018; Article no.SAJSSE.45575 1979. Under the 13th 5-year Plan emphasis was care, education and social security – remain placed on urbanization of China. Targets were largely funded through village collectives’ assets set to have 80 million people to become and business earnings. Moreover, collective urbanized by 20201 and 200 million by 2040 to a landownership has historically been the most point in 2030 when more than two-thirds of important source of income for villagers, and any China’s population will be urbanized (Fig. 2). ‘across-the-board’ attempt for rural-to-urban land Over 100 million who are residents of cities will conversion almost always attracts local get their residential permits2 for urban living in opposition. These gaps between the state’s 2018. China will limit land use in cities with over attempts at urbanization and what has happened 5 million residents to prevent city expansion from on the ground suggest that the new policy of eroding the area of farmland. chengzhenhua will encounter significant complications, contingent on the actual process So, what distinguishes chengzhenhua from the of implementation in different places. former process of rapid urbanization in China? The zhen (‘town’) in chengzhenhua The new Will the trajectory of ‘becoming urban’ policy is focused on towns (zhen 鎮 ). remain the same, such that the Administratively, towns fall under the rural chengzhenhua policy ends up being government system in China and are therefore nothing more than novel rhetoric? subjected to rural institutions such as collective What goals are China’s fifth-generation land, rural household registration and village leadership attempting to establish ?, governance. However, towns can be populous what new practices do they seek to and prosperous. There are over 20,000 million adopt?, and towns in China, and the average population of which aspects of the status quo does the largest 1,000 of these is over 70-90,000 A chengzhenhua intend to break away from? major objective of chengzhenhua is to encourage and accelerate urbanization in large towns. 3. THE GOALS OF URBAN-RURAL INTEGRATION Promoting chengzhenhua in Towns It has become increasingly clear that there is no clear- The larger goal and rationale underpinning cut (yidaoqie 一 刀 切 ) prescription for chengzhenhua is urban-rural integration 城乡一 implementing chengzhenhua, because each town has its own historical and socio-political 体化. The official discourse describes this goal as conditions. Nevertheless, three main approaches 打破城 ‘breaking the urban-rural duality structure’ to organizing the various practices
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