Urbanisation in China today

Abstract

China's rapid demographic transition is expected to lead to a contraction in the working-age population. Securing labour supply will depend on whether urbanisation can bring sufficient workers into urban areas. This chapter describes the urban system in China and examines how the urban population is defined. It then discusses the current level of urbanisation, analyses the regional spatial distribution of the urban population, and summarises general trends of urban population distribution. It uses this understanding to reflect on the potential for application of the OECD methodology of urban areas to China. Finally, the longer term urbanisation patterns in China are briefly discussed.