In the 1960’s and 1970’s the Chinese government sent millions of city dwellers “down to the countryside,” many of them students and intellectuals. The purpose was ostensibly to have them learn about hard work and revolutionary fervor from the peasants. It was also a way to get them out of the cities so they wouldn’t […]
Where Have All the Villages Gone?
When I first went to China in the mid-1980’s the rural/urban population ratio was 80/20. Today, after three decades of urbanization, that ratio is roughly 50/50. Urbanization in China comes in two forms, either by peasants moving from the countryside into the cities or the cities expanding to swallow up the countryside. One of the […]
Reading Assignment — Urban Migration
Imagine, if you will, every single person in the United States packing up everything and moving — not just to a different house, but to a different city or state. Pretty hard to imagine, right? But that’s exactly what’s happening in China today, as urbanization continues at an unprecedented pace. David Pierson, of The Los […]
