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What is the Main Impact Urbanization Brings to China?

Word Count: 1942

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Introduction

As the world changes, the demography of the human race also changes. As humans work

towards development, trends show that urban sprawl is increasing among countries. According to

the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, urbanization is the spreading of urban developments. There are

lots of international migration, and people usually tend to leave rural areas. According to

Worldometers, the population in China in 2018 was around 1.4 billion. China is a country with

the largest amount of people in the world sharing around 18.54% of the world population

(Worldometers 2018). As China’s economy rises, it has become a global leader, especially in

technology and labour resources.

The United Nations projects that developing countries will experience more urbanization,

and there will be less rural dwellers. By 2050, two-thirds of the population will be living in urban

cities. This urban demographic change actually is influenced by trends in the economic

development worldwide (Montgomery 2008). Working towards more development, China has

been one of the global leaders running the world economy over the past several decades. China’s

gross domestic product grows at an average annual rate of 9.5% (Zhou 2004). This led to an

increase of development in China, and China is slowly increasing its economy. ​Urbanization has

been closely linked to environmental issues. While Montgomery (Montgomery 2008) notes that

urbanization is growing in the developing world, Thatcher (Thatcher 1989) described how this

type of trend had a detrimental effect on the environment.​ As China’s urban sprawl increases,

there will be an increase in urbanization and development in China. As more people move into

larger cities, is this demographic change a benefit or a drawback to China’s development?

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Major perspectives analyzed in this essay will be economic growth, environmental

damage, and public health.

Benefits in China’s Economy

China is a communist country with a market economy. As China’s market economy rises,

China will conduct more business, international cooperation, and become more connected with

the world (Lu 2018). The World Bank reports that China’s urban population grew from 191

million to 594 million from 1980 to 2007. They also indicate that while succeeding its rapid

urbanization movement, it has also maintained low urban poverty and unemployment (World

Bank 2008). Premier Li Keqiang believes that urbanization is a “huge engine” of China’s

economic growth (Qin 2016). Pan Jiahua, director of Institute of the Urban Environment at the

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), discussed how he believes that urbanization will

create better public resources, like public education and healthcare (Qin 2016). Urbanization

helps people get more connections, such as more rural residents getting more resources moving

to the city. They are able to attend schools, receive healthcare, and have more access to

resources.China’s GDP grew exponentially for 30 years. As China focuses on developing its

country, China’s production rate increases. China’s economy grows an annual rate of 7.7% each

year (Peston 2014), and demand for China’s production increases dramatically (Zhang 2011).

China’s financial institutions, labour resources, and and investments will make China become a

global market. Opening slowly towards the international market, China is now an economic

leader that boosts international trade and urbanization.

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Decrease of Poverty

Economic growth has reduced poverty ever since 1980 in China (Amadeo 2019). Poor

households were able to have benefits due to targets of poverty reduction programs. These

programs received around 469 billion yuan from 1980 to 2016, which is around 70 billion US

dollars (Wu 2016). Poor areas were able to generate more income, thereby leading towards more

economic growth. As the economy improves, there is now a growing income inequality, but the

economic growth of China has benefited the people as a whole. Poverty in the rural areas of

China has decreased from 250 million to 29 million from 1978 to 2003. China has the largest

poverty population, as well as the country with the largest population (Zhang 2011). Now only

around 3.3% of China’s massive population lives under the poverty line (Amadeo 2019).

Employment rose due to tech, steel, aluminum companies employing a lot of people. The central

government of China aims to end extreme poverty by the year 2020, and hopefully fund more

towards these programs (Wu 2016).

Major Damages in China’s Environment

Margaret Thatcher stated in her speech to the United Nations General Assembly in 1989,

“We are seeing a vast increase in the amount of carbon dioxide reaching the atmosphere. The

annual increase is three billion tonnes: and half the carbon emitted since the Industrial

Revolution still remains in the atmosphere (Thatcher 1989).” Not only China, but as the whole

world moves toward urbanization, there will be more destruction of tropical forests, killing of

many animals, and the pollution of the globe’s oceans (Thatcher 1989). As China’s urbanization

grows rapidly, China’s environment has been degrading. Pettinger addresses since around half of

the population live in urban cities, China suffers from massive contamination (Pettinger 2009).
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Factories, cars, and movement of people cause sewage problems, rising CO2 levels, heating of

the surface temperature, and smog in urban areas. In addition, treatment of electronic waste

contaminates China’s soil. China suffers from acid rain, polluted rivers, contaminated air, and a

quarter of the residents in China have no access to clean drinking water. Rivers are polluted with

untreated sewage that comes from fertilizers and pesticides, animal wastes, chemical wastes,

detergents, etc. (Zhang 2011). As more industries dump waste into rivers, there is a notable

correlation between China’s economic growth and China’s environment.

Public Health Problems in China

As China’s environmental problems increase, public health in China worsens. A

government source in China also states that around a fifth of urban Chinese breathes heavily

polluted air (Zhang 2011). In addition, China does not only suffer from air pollution outside. The

World Bank states that indoor air pollution is what creates premature deaths. The World Health

Organization estimates that 300,000 premature deaths in China comes from air pollution (Kan

2009). As China relies mostly on coal combustion for fuel, many cities in China suffer from

rising sulfur dioxide (SO2) levels and acid rain (Zhang 2011). The Chinese government does not

regulate these power plants or maintains proper control of the rising SO2 levels. Not only air

pollution, but water pollution affects many regions in the country. China’s waters contain toxic

levels of arsenic, fluorine, and sulfates (Gibson 2018). Mostly coming from farm fertilizers,

electronic waste, and pollution-induced algae. For example, Dabo Guan, a professor at the

University of East Anglia in Britain believes one of the main issues in China is water pollution.

(Gibson 2018). As China’s industries dump waste in to lakes and rivers, rural villages are

exposed to toxic waste due to their reliance on natural resources. They use this water for
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washing, drinking, cleaning, etc. These villages are even called “cancer villages” due to the huge

risks of getting cancer (Gibson 2018). China’s water sources are linked to high rates of liver,

stomach, and esophageal cancer (Gibson 2018). Sadly, most of China’s regions that do not have

access to technology do not have a system to purify wastewater. To maintain public security and

health in China, more reforms and policies must be made.

Problems in Chinese Society

Socially, China’s urban population live in clustered areas with narrow spaces. As there is

the largest population lives in China, China’s urban areas do not have enough land for living. As

China’s population keeps growing, even though there is less poverty, there is an increasing

wealth gap among society. For example, income isn’t really fairly established, and

discrimination is increased (Zhang 2011). The Gini Index, a measure of wealth inequality, is a

scale from 1 being the most equal to 100, being not equal. The Gini Index reports China at 50

points, one of the highest in Asia. It has increased about 15 points since 1990 (Jain-Chandra

2018). As inequality increases, China is still behind other OECD countries in public spending on

health, education and social assistance. Due to low spending, this will impact many people

migrating to urban areas, since China has an . In 2013, spending in rural and urban areas had

wide gaps, and generally, there is usually more consumption in the urban areas (World Bank

2008). In 2005, consumption in urban areas in China was around 2-3 times higher than rural

areas (Zhang 2011). As income disparity increases in China, economic growth in China could

soon be limited. The rich will keep getting richer, the poor getting poorer, affecting China’s

economy.

Conclusion
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China is a global market leader. Production, consumption, and business competition in

China is relatively high. Its economy is even higher than the U.S., and is expected to grow even

more. Urbanization and development in China will increase. But as China grows, does its

impacts on urbanization fall more on the positive side, or the negative?

China is a huge country with a huge population. Its urbanization has done many positives,

but China’s urbanization problems outweigh the positives. The main impact that urbanization

brings to China is, very noticeably, environmental problems. When looking up photos from

China online, smog and air pollution is very noticeable, as skies in most photos taken in China

look very gray. But the reason why environmental problems affect China the most, is not

because it affects the economy or the development of cities, but affects people’s health and

safety. The Chinese are constantly exposed to fatal air quality. Sadly, these environmental

problems not only affect China itself, but countries near China. This is why environmental

damage is the main cause of urbanization in China. Winds from China bring air pollution to

central Asia and east Asia, affecting billions of people (Medium 2019). Countries like South

Korea and Japan are the most affected, due to being close to China geographically. These

countries do not really partake in degrading China’s air quality, but are exposed to polluted air.

People around South Korea and Japan constantly get warnings about fine dust and smog, and

have to wear face masks to prevent damage to their lungs. Somedays, the people get warnings

saying they should not go outside at all. The Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science

(KRISS) states that most of these “fine dusts” particles come from China from winds. Fine dust

is usually originates from the “combustion of fossil fuels or biomass” (Medium.com 2019).

These dust particles are brought to Korea and Japan from China, being exposed in to the air.
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These particles damage lungs and could even cause cancer, as they are carcinogens. Due to these

conflicts, China has to resolve these environmental issues with several countries, either

establishing treaties or have to pay a fine toward other countries. This in the end, could affect

their economy due to repairs of environmental damage. Health and the environment come before

the development of a society, therefore, being the most important impact of urbanization in

China.

Limitations to Research

There are several limitations that should be noted. For example, not all Chinese

government resources are reliable. China’s social media firewalls make it extremely difficult to

do research in China. In addition, the government releases information that is thoroughly

checked, and are not really trustworthy. In addition, China is making economic, environmental,

and social reforms constantly. As China changes in policies on the environment, the main impact

of urbanization could change in several years. Likewise, the environment and health of the

people are not the only impacts of urbanization. There are economical benefits for people, such

as reducing poverty, such as the poverty population decreasing (Zhang 2011). This can actually

benefit people in achieving a better lifestyle. As a whole society, urbanization improves China’s

development as a whole.
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