Urban Formation in China Since 1950 Seen from Afar

Urban formations at the national,regional and urban district levels in China are discussed.Observations at the national level concern spatio-temporal distributions of regional and county-level cities,as well as designated towns,since 1950,and references to comparable western patterns of urbanization are made.At a regional level and especially for the Yangtze River Delta Region,less well-controlled development appears primarily in conurbated areas between relatively well-managed cities and towns,often causing adverse environmental consequences and economic inefficiencies.At local urban district levels,characteristics of large-block developments are compared with western counterparts,as well as with earlier conditions of Chinese urbanization.Although future adaptation appears possible,problems include a relative inflexibility in prevailing building types,inefficiencies of coarse-grained infrastructure distribution,and potential isolation from relatively high degrees of selfcontainment.