The Challenges of China’s Fast Paced Urbanisation

The Urban Development in China Conference hosted by the International Business School Suzhou (IBSS) at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) was held last week. Participants from China, US, Canada, France, Holland, Japan and Indonesia gathered to discuss recent challenging issues on urban development in China.

Presentations included issues relating to trends or urbanisation in China such as identifying areas with large potential for economic growth; the determinants of urban growth in China; housing prices and urban sprawl, income inequality in urban labour markets as well as the impact of rural-urban migration.

There were two keynote speeches delivered. Professor Andre Rodriguez-Pose from the London School of Economics (LSE) and President of Regional Science Association International (RSAI) presented on the innovation in cities. The second keynote speaker was Professor Zuoquan Zhao of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Vice-president of the Regional Science Association of China (RSAC) who presented on identifying areas of large potential growth in China and income inequality.

The conference was organised in conjunction with RSAI and RSAC, as well as the Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy, and Society (CJRES). It was the first event organized by RSAI in China. As such, it demonstrated the rising importance of research on regional science within China. Selected papers presented at the conference will be published in a special issue of CJRES.