The Chinese periurban environment and globalisation
p. 33-36
Texte intégral
1January 2012
2Chinese cities1 underwent profound changes during the period of reforms in the late 1970s. The creation of special economic zones in the south in 1980 and areas of economic and technical development on the outskirts of major towns in coastal areas in 1984 were memorable moments. The real turning-point, however, was at the beginning of the next decade, with the creation of the New Pudong Area in 1990 and the return to reforms initiated by Deng Xiaoping in 1992. At the time, political decisions, such as work contracts, creating a housing market and the reform of State companies, had a major impact on the economic and social fabric of cities, as well as refocusing development, which was previously based in the free-trade zones and the coast, in the cities themselves. These had previously been bypassed by Chinese reforms but now became actors, leaders and models.
3Urban areas were thus modernized into megacities in the process of globalisation: extension of built-up areas, redistribution not only of secondary activities but also of part of the population to the outskirts of cities, urban development with the construction of prestigious buildings, a new road grid for cars and functional zoning, resulting in significant commuting; large-scale renewal of residential buildings, expansion of the service sector and gentrification and verticalization of city centres. An urban middle class appeared, with higher salaries, forming a strong consumer society that could buy a house at market price. The aims of this group are now to buy a car or go on holiday in China or abroad.
4This overwhelming urban development resulted in the emergence of new, spacious suburbs near the city centre and an internal polycentric system, with distant suburbs relatively independent of the city centre in terms of services. The real unseen changes in contemporary Chinese urbanization, however, especially since the beginning of the 2000s, is the integration of peripheral rural areas, which had hitherto remained external to the urban logic.
5These areas outside the city, governed by the central municipality but central city governments, are now undergoing huge economic changes, new residential functions and their own form of urbanization. As part of an ambitious master plan, they are able to accommodate facilities of regional or national interest, a dense network of new roads and motorways, economic zones directly linked to international production networks and the emergence of secondary poles through new cities.
Shanghai, an innovative model
6The city of Shanghai was involved in this process long before most other large Chinese cities. During the past 20 years, it has experienced rapid growth and is often seen as a innovative model of urbanization in China. As part of the “ANR-Suds Peridsud”, a collaboration with the East China Normal University, and following a comparison with five other megacities (Abidjan, Hanoi, Cape Town, Lima and Mexico City), our team of researchers and doctoral students at UMR 8586, Prodig, has chosen to analyse the new trends of Chinese urbanization with the example of the outskirts of Shanghai.
7Early on, the authorities tried to orientate the rapid growth of the city centre. The New Pundong Area project, east of the Huangpu River, was the first step to compensate for the city’s extension to the foreign concessions of the west. This area is structured around a new financial centre in Lujiazui, the industrial areas in Jinqiao and Zhanjiang, the Waigaoqiao Port and the Pudong International Airport. More recently, in the southeast, it has also been structured around the new town of Luchaogang, directly linked to the port and deep waters of the Yangshan River. Baoshan and Minhang are also being extended, in the north and south, respectively, and in the town centres.
8Throughout the beginning of the 21st century, city development projects affected the entire city and maintained an inclusive logic. It was thus proposed to relocate people and activities through an ambitious polycentric system based on the building of new towns, themselves heirs of the former satellite towns of the Maoist period. The “One city, nine towns” programme for the development of Songjiang, Shanghai’s main district, and those of nine other new towns (Baoshan, Minhang, Jiading, Nanhui, Jinshan, Fengxian, Qingpu, Luchaogang and Chengqiao) was revised in 2006 to place particular emphasis on three peripheral cities: Jiading, Songjiang and Luchaogang.
9These new towns are part of the history of the city’s development and are models of Shanghai’s urban and cosmopolitan modernization. Most combine a previous urban fabric inherited from their town of origin and achievements of the Maoist era; a new town with residential blocks and a promotional image based on foreign architecture (English style in Songjiang, Italian in Minhang and German in Anting), intended only for the wealthy (Chinese or foreign), with economic development zones open to the international community and often a university town accommodating the new Shanghai University campuses, which are now in limited space in the city centre.
Songjiang, a new town
10The Songjiang district is not contiguous with the city but about 30 km west of Shanghai. It faces two challenges: very rapid urbanization, which has made land pressure the main issue for local authorities responsible for development; and a very high concentration of buildings ofr residential and industrial purposes in the northeast of the district, resulting in significant commuting into the town centre, which has now been strengthened by the opening of underground transport.
11Across Songjiang, the rapid changes in periurban areas of Chinese towns are illustrated in the concomitant presence of widely varied populations with different or conflicting interests, clearly representing the contradictions deriving from both the former migration policy (registration booklet, restriction of officially authorized migration, maintenance of the rural population in these areas) and the flow that has given rise to economic development, with many migrants working in fields, factories and services such as small businesses, movement of part of the population into the town centre and the arrival of new middle classes and the wealthy seeking a better quality of life. The socio-spatial divide in these areas can be very strong.
12Land has become a major issue because of strong pressure from industrialists, property developers and local authorities on former residents, especially (often elderly) farmers, as their children leave to work in the town centre.
Periurban areas: the future of Chinese towns?
13In the context of integration into the global economy and urban modernization, the mutation of peripheral areas to the outskirts of Shanghai show the extent to which the current spatial and social re-composition results from China’s rapid urbanization, its sectorial choices and the evolution of its population. Urban areas in the central district under local administration, constraints to social innovation due to the diverse populations and reevaluation of rural areas economically and socially are the challenges faced by these in-between areas. Urban peripheries are currently laboratories of a post-reformed China that must now find solutions to the contradictions resulting from the reforms themselves. Noteworthy tools in terms of the development process are the policies that take into account the challenges not only for large cities but also for vast urban areas that are also in need of administrative and economic adaptation to the level of the current social fabric in these former blind spots of high-density territorial governance.
Bibliographie
Bibliographical indications
Sanjuan, Thierry, Atlas de Shanghai, Paris, Autrement, coll. «Atlas/Mégapoles», 2009, 88 p.
Sanjuan, Thierry, avec la participation de Trolliet, Pierre, La Chine et le monde chinois. Une géopolitique des territoires, Paris, Armand Colin, coll. «U», 2010, 384 p.
Notes de bas de page
1 The words “town” and “city” are used interchangeably throughout this text, as the French word, “ville”, applies to both. In the text, the context should be taken into consideration to determine whether the author is referring to a town or a city.
Auteur
Université Paris-I
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