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For exceptions, permission may be sought for such use through Elsevier’s permissions site at: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/permissionusematerial Cities, Vol. 24, No. 1, p. 60–73, 2007 Ó 2006 Elsevier Ltd. doi:10.1016/j.cities.2006.11.006 All rights reserved. 0264-2751/$ - see front matter www.elsevier.com/locate/cities Viewpoint The urban system in West China: A case study along the mid- section of the ancient Silk Road – He-Xi Corridor Yichun Xie, Robert Ward Department of Geography and Geology, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI, USA Chuanglin Fang *, Biao Qiao Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China Received 8 January 2006; revised 5 July 2006; accepted 12 November 2006 Available online 23 January 2007 The evolution of the urban system in the semi-arid and arid West China has a close relationship to the origin, prosperity, and decline of the ancient Silk Road. This urban system bears noticeable inscriptions of the fragile physical environment, complex ethnic mix, and changing political systems and policies. This paper uses the mid-section of the ancient Silk Road – He-Xi Corridor as a case study to examine the challenges of urban development in West China and to propose suggestions for future development from the perspective of comprehensive planning. The research focuses on a series of seven cities and numerous towns which primarily serve the local population by providing different functions, beyond their value to travelers and historians. These cities are rapidly gaining importance to provincial and national authorities. Although current political, social, and economic influences are significant, a con- siderable part of their evolution can be explained by the natural environment, primary resources, eth- nic differences, and their geographical distributions. The investigation examines the relationship between the evolution of these urban centers and internal and external conditions and provides a base for planning policy to enhance their viability as significant nodes for future development. Ó 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords:Author'sChallenges of urban development, arid/semi-aridpersonal environment, Urban system, copy He-Xi corridor, West China Introduction tion. The urban population rose from 20% of the nation’s population in * The 2000 Census in China clearly iden- Corresponding author. E-mail: fangcl 1982 to 36% in the year 2000, a net gain @igsnrr.ac.cn. tifies a pattern of accelerated urbaniza- 60 Viewpoint: Y Xie et al. of 16% in less than two decades. Much along the feet of mountains and the Yellow River, called He-Xi (River- of China’s accelerated urbanization has rivers. They rely heavily on melt gla- West) Corridor. The cities in He-Xi taken place in economically advanced cier water and face severe shortages Corridor have similar physical envi- regions of the East Coast, particularly of water resource. They are situated ronments to those cities in West Chi- where the influence of market reforms in minority concentrated areas. The na. In addition, He-Xi is located at and globalization have been most city system there originated with the the transitional zone between West strongly felt. However, less is known thriving silk trade and military instal- and Central/East China. Through its of the urban development in West lations to protect trade and consoli- long history, this area has been a fron- China, part of the nation’s vast hinter- date the Han People’s (Mandarin) tier buffering the Mandarin Chinese land. Due to the limited data and incon- controls. The urban growth was chal- and ethnic minorities. Urban growth spicuous economic achievement, little lenged by a fragile physical environ- in this region reflected complex inter- literature has been found on how the ment, long-standing ethnic conflicts, actions between harsh environments, urban system evolves in this region. and changing politics. The urban recurring ethnic conflicts, and human West China is a geographic term growth has taken a unique path devi- struggles for survival. Another point which is used by ordinary Chinese to ating from what is commonly seen in worth noting is that many cities in this indicate remote parts of China where coastal China. In general, the urbani- region were promoted as important ethnic minorities are concentrated. zation level was low and the living inland industrial bases after the estab- These areas usually include Yunnan, standard was poor. The gaps between lishment of the People’s Republic of Guizhou, Sichuan, Qinhai, Tibet, In- cities in West and East China have China and before China’s economic ner Mongolia, Shannxi, Ningxia, Gan- widened, which has been causing reforms, and have been reenergized su, and Xinjiang. The first five political instability and a resurgence as important bridges to relay eco- provinces and autonomous regions of nationalism, and led to a new cam- nomic miracles from the east to the consist of three topographic units. paign for exploiting West China by the west in recent years. Therefore, an Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau is located Chinese central government. understanding and exploration of ur- in southwest China with a subtropical In this paper, we plan to examine ban development in this area will climate and changing landscape. Sich- the challenges West China is facing serve as a good pilot for learning les- uan is a large basin with several huge to modernize its economy, and to pro- sons to provide guidance to the overall river systems flowing through, such as pose future development strategies development of West China. the Yangtze River. Qinhai-Tibet Pla- from the viewpoint of comprehensive An introduction of the urban sys- teau is the largest and highest plateau planning. Since West China covers a tem in He-Xi Corridor will be pre- in China, with an average elevation vast region, this paper analyzes the sented in this section. The challenges above 4000 m. The last five provinces main characteristics of urban develop- of urban growth will be examined in and autonomous regions are located ment along the middle section of the a coherent manner from the region’s in the semi-arid and arid areas in Chi- ancient Silk Road of China as a win- physical environments, ethnic compo- na, called the Great Northwest, which dow to examine urban systems in sitions, historical heritages, political is often taken as West China. West China (Figure 1). The rationale forces, and urban system characteris- Cities in arid/semiarid West China for us to choose this area as the case tics in the second section. The future are largely located in the oases dotted study includes the following points. planning strategy will be proposed in on the diluvian fans and alluvial plains The study area is located west of the the discussion and conclusion section. Author's personal copy Figure 1 The route of ancient Silk Road. 61 Viewpoint: Y Xie et al. Cities in China are official establish- also an administrative entity. In addi- Province, including five provincial cit- ments that require administrative des- tion to its host urban district (often ies (Table 1 – left-adjusted and in bold ignation and receive fiscal resources called the city proper by Chinese plan- fonts; Figure 2). Jiayuguan is a provin- from the Central State Government ners), it usually administers a number cial city, but does not contain any (Xie and Costa, 1991; Yeh and Wu, of suburban districts, adjacent coun- counties or county-level cities (Table 1999; Lin, 2002); The officially desig- ties, and county-level cities. The city 1). Jinchang, Wuwei, Zhangye and nated cities in China consist of three proper (urban district) is the popular Jiuquan all contain one urban district ranks: (1) national municipalities di- definition of the geographic area of a (city proper) and one (Jinchang) to rectly under the administration of the municipality or provincial city. The five counties (Zhangye). Jiuquan also Central State Government, such as city proper is often named after the includes two county-level cities (Yu- Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Chon- city. However there are exceptions men City and Dunhuang City). Inter- gqing, whose governments enjoy (see the next paragraph). Moreover, estingly, all host urban districts administrative power equivalent to in the Chinese definitions of adminis- (cities proper) are named differently the provincial governments; (2) pro- trative and statistical geography, a from these provincial cities (Table 1), vincial cities (often called district-level municipality or provincial city in- which is seldom seen in East China. cities) under the administration of cludes a much large area, the city This may reflect the fact that these cit- provincial governments, and (3) proper and its administered suburban ies’ urban districts do not have domi- county-level cities under the adminis- districts, counties, and county-level