Urbanization patterns and its determinants in eastern China

The selection of urbanization patterns and its determinants are hot issues in China nowadays. Based on land-use remote sensing data estimated from Landsat Thematic Mapper/Enhanced Thematic Mapper digital images of Chinese Academy of Sciences and a unique set of socioeconomic data collected by the authors, according to the build-up area (BUA), we classified the patterns of urbanization into five scales (rural "villages", small townships, small and medium cities, large, and super large cities). Then an econometric model is developed to empirically estimate the determinants of urbanization patterns. Results indicate that BUA expanded rapidly from late 1980s and the patterns of urbanization are associated with policy factors. At the same time, population and economy growth also help affect the development of urbanization patterns. Two important policy implications can be drawn from this study. First, the process of urbanization could be predictable and to some extent controlled through various government policies as the urbanization is strongly related to policy choices. Second, further study is necessary to evaluate China's past and current urbanization strategy that have been focused on the development of both small townships and super large cities since the middle 1990s. The rapid growth of super large cities is an issue that needs more concerns by policy makers.