Introduction

As a continuation of our award-winning book, ‘China's City Cluster Development in the Race to Carbon Neutrality’ and our recent book, ‘30 Years of Urban Change in China’s 10 Core Cities’, this book delves into China’s recent progress in reshaping its cities through holistic urban transformation strategies. Building on our previous work, we expand our focus to explore the latest developments in urbanization, examining how recent strategies and policies have influenced cities and cityscapes across China and beyond.

Urbanization and Transformation

It is evident that China is reshaping its cities through a dynamic interplay of policy reforms, technological advancements, and creative planning. The late 20th and early 21st centuries have seen a sharp increase in urbanization, with a particular focus on the development of smart, resilient, and sustainable cities. Through a thorough examination of case study examples that have undergone significant recent change, this book investigates how these goals are being achieved.

Overview of the Book

‘China Under Construction: Shaping Cities through Recent Urban Transformation’ offers a thorough overview of China’s current urban transformation efforts, highlighting both the achievements and the ongoing challenges, through case studies and in-depth evaluations. We hope to provide insightful information about the real-world applications of urban strategies and their wider implications for China’s future urban landscape by concentrating on ten selected cities. This extension of our earlier research emphasizes how critical it is to view urban transformation as a complex process influencing social dynamics, technology, infrastructure, and environmental sustainability, among other facets of city life and urbanization.