Faced with the rapid growth of cities and a surge in urban population driven mainly by the influx of migrants from rural areas, experts have called for the country to adopt a more focused pattern of urbanization.
"An urgent shift in focus from solely driving GDP growth to an agenda of boosting urban productivity is not only an opportunity but a necessity," a report released by the McKinsey Global Institute, consultancy McKinsey and Co's economics think tank, stated on Monday.
With the population of urban areas expected to surpass 1 billion in 2030, a "supercity" pattern of urban growth would produce 20 percent more per capita GDP than the current pattern, obtain higher energy efficiency, and curb the loss of arable land, McKinsey said.
The move would produce 15 "supercities" with an average population of 25 million, Xinhua News Agency reported of McKinsey's study.
Such a pattern would also help cluster the most skilled workers in urban centers, which would be major engines of economic growth, the report stated.
The supercities would reportedly be better equipped to deal with the challenges of development than a rash of smaller cities: energy productivity would be nearly 20 percent higher; public transport would be more efficient; air and water pollution would be easier to manage and cropland losses could be kept to under 8 percent.
The country's urban population was forecast to expand from the 572 million seen in 2005, to 926 million in 2025 and 1 billion in 2030.
Of the 350 million people added to the country's urban population by 2025, more than 240 million would be migrants from the rural regions.
And by 2025, there would be 221 cities with populations of 1 million each. Meanwhile, urban areas would reportedly generate 95 percent of the country's GDP, up from the current 75 percent.
"Continued growth of China's cities will ensure that China meets its target of quadrupling per capita GDP from 2000 levels by 2020," the report stated.
But it also warned that urban population growth would put pressure on many cities, including the challenge of managing more people, securing sufficient funds for social services and dealing with demand and supply of land, energy, water and the environment.
Chinese population experts have also said that the country would reap greater economic benefits and improve energy efficiency by improving its urbanization pattern.
"Urbanization is a significant sign of modernization in China," Mu Guangzong, a professor of the population research institute under Peking University, told China Daily in a phone interview yesterday.
One problem currently facing the country's pattern of urbanization is the imbalance in the distribution of the population, Mu said.
"People prefer to move to economically developed cities in the east or central regions, and that would slow down the development in the west of the country," Mu said.
Mu also warned that the labor shortage in rural areas, a side effect of urbanization, is creating a widening gap in the economic development of cities and the countryside.
"Too many people are striving for better lives in cities, but an overwhelming density of population actually worsens their living standard," Mu said.
Faced with the increasing competition for skilled labor, migrants without adequate education and skills are unable to find jobs to sustain a higher cost of living in the cities they go to, Mu said.
These migrants end up seeking temporary shelter at the fringes of cities, where there is a real danger of higher poverty and crime rates, Mu said.
"In contrast, you see many villages empty of young people, with land uncultivated," Mu said.
The country's urbanization is closely linked to the reform of the industrial structure, said Lai Desheng, director of the labor market research center under Beijing Normal University.
The shift of focus from the agricultural industry to the service sector in the process of urbanization would also present new challenges, Lai said.
Questions:
1. Which global think tank released the report about China’s present and future urbanization?
2. According to the report what shift in focus was necessary?
3. List two advantages of the proposed “supercity” model.
Answers:
1. The McKinsey Global Institute.
2. From solely driving GDP growth to an agenda of boosting urban productivity is not only an opportunity but a necessity.
3. Boost in gdp, higher energy efficiency, and curb the loss of arable land.
（英语点津 Helen 编辑）
About the broadcaster:
Brendan joined The China Daily in 2007 as a language polisher in the Language Tips Department, where he writes a regular column for Chinese English Language learners, reads audio news for listeners and anchors the weekly video news in addition to assisting with on location stories. Elsewhere he writes Op’Ed pieces with a China focus that feature in the Daily’s Website opinion section.
He received his B.A. and Post Grad Dip from Curtin University in 1997 and his Masters in Community Development and Management from Charles Darwin University in 2003. He has taught in Japan, England, Australia and most recently China. His articles have featured in the Bangkok Post, The Taipei Times, The Asia News Network and in-flight magazines.
