The socioeconomic and spatial transformation of the Shenyang-Dalian Extended Metropolitan Region of China, 1978-1992

• Main Author: Wang, Mark Yaolin
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/7497

China’s post-1978 reform programs have been responsible for the release of over 100 million rural labourers from farming activities. The experience of western countries suggests that this rate of development and modernization will also involve a dramatic transition from rural-to-urban society. This should also lead to a change in the features of the urban system. However, it may be argued that some distinctive features of China’s Extended Metropolitan Regions (EMRs) including high population densities, the persistence of agriculture and a strong decentralization of decision-making for economic enterprises offer the possibilities of a different form of urbanization. This thesis assesses which of the recent processes of socioeconomic and spatial transformation in the Shenyang-Dalian region of Liaoning province - China’s major industrial heartland - are producing such an extended urban region. The purposes are first to examine China’s rural-urban relationships as a general background to description and analysis of the spatial patterns and processes of the Shenyang-Dalian EMR; and secondly to critically evaluate the practice of the PRC government in keeping rigid rural-urban divisions in administrative and allocative practices. The overall objective is to examine the validity of the EMR conception as a distinct urban form, and to assess the degree to which this model fits the contemporary Shenyang-Dalian growth corridor. The analysis of secondary data shows dramatic demographic and labour changes in the Shenyang-Dalian corridor since 1978. The corridor’s rich natural resource endowment, the special conditions of historical development, and recent administrative changes and transportation improvements have led to a spatial pattern which conforms with the EMR model - albeit with characteristics that clearly distinguish this region from other mega-urban zones in China and elsewhere. In-depth case studies of three villages along the corridor show that the impacts of the reconfiguring of settlement and economic patterns vary; yet there was sufficient commonality to indicate that a kind of ‘invisible urbanization’ has occurred since 1978 in the rural areas of the corridor. It is concluded that the measurement of underlying urbanization along the Shenyang-Dalian corridor is far more difficult than is officially recognized by the Chinese government. The rapid urbanization of the countryside and increasing rural-urban interaction has broken down the stark pre-1978 rural-urban divide in the Shenyang-Dalian region. Spatial and sectoral segregation of rural and urban areas have been replaced by growing levels of integration and interaction. This increased integration has been fueled primarily by improvements in infrastructure and favourable government policies. For the Shenyang-Dalian corridor, new government policies, such as the creation of open zones, emphasis on industrial decentralization and rural industrialization, changes in administrative systems, and the establishment of modern transport infrastructure have been driving forces in creating new forms of rural-urban integration. Yet the state is not the sole architect of the regional transformation. Much of the change one finds on the ground is driven by local enterprises and initiative. It is this local dynamism which gives the region its vibrancy and marks the path of change as mercurial but not predefined. The pace and indeterminacy of regional socioeconomic changes pose a number of problem for the government, such as deteriorating environment, infrastructural needs and conflicting land uses. This thesis argues that the Chinese government will need to further modify its policies to cope with the emergence of the Extended Metropolitan Regions.