World Energy Outlook 2007

Urbanisation
China has undergone rapid urbanisation in recent decades. Cities have, on
average, doubled in size over the past 20 years. China has more than
660 cities 11 (UNFPA, 2007), 120 of which together contribute 75% of the
country’s GDP (World Bank, 2007b). Along with Shanghai and Beijing, whose
populations are over 10 million, China contains eight cities with more than five
million people and 88 cities with 1 to 5 million (Table 7.2). Four Chinese cities
rank among the 30 most populous in the world today. Cities in the coastal
provinces, notably Shanghai and Beijing, have generally grown much faster
since 1980 than inland cities. Urbanisation averages 49% in the coastal
provinces and 35% inland. Only a quarter of inland provinces reach the
national urbanisation rate of 40%.
Table 7.2: Populations of the Top 20 Urban Agglomerations* in 2005
(thousands)
City Population City Population
7
Shanghai 14 503 Chengdu, Sichuan 4 065
Beijing 10 717 Xi’an, Shaanxi 3 926
Guangzhou, Guangdong 8 425 Harbin, Heilongjiang 3 695
Shenzhen, Guangdong 7 233 Nanjing, Jiangsu 3 621
Wuhan, Hubei 7 093 Guiyang, Guizhou 3 447
Hong Kong (SAR) 7 041 Dalian, Liaoning 3 073
Tianjin 7 040 Changchun, Jilin 3 046
Chongqing 6 363 Zibo, Shandong 2 982
Shenyang, Liaoning 4 720 Kunming, Yunnan 2 837
Dongguan, Guangdong 4 320 Hangzhou, Zhejiang 2 831
Total 110 978
*This table uses the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) definition: “The de facto population contained
within the contours of a contiguous territory inhabited at urban density levels without regard to administrative
boundaries. It usually incorporates the population in a city or town plus that in the suburban areas lying outside
of but being adjacent to the city boundaries.”
Source: UNSD online databases (2007).
The fact that China has kept some controls on internal migration has had the
advantage of allowing quite rapid urbanisation to take place without the
creation of massive slums. 12 Urbanisation generates huge demand for
11. This is according to the UN definition of a city (see note to Table 7.2). According to a broader
definition, for example including non-hukou construction and services workers, China has nearly
200 cities with more than one million inhabitants, while the population of Beijing is 15 to 17 million.
12. Because of the scale of their populations, China and India still account for 37% of the world’s
slums (UNFPA, 2007).
Chapter 7 - Political, Economic and Demographic Context 257