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Ran Shunbi, 75, plays mah-jongg while holding her 3-year-old great-grandson at their relocation housing in Chongqing. She and her family were moved from their farmland and resettled nearby. “Up in the mountains we worked all the time. We had pigs and chickens. Here we just sit around and people play mah-jongg” ment, because once farmers start working in city jobs, they will start paying taxes and contributing to social welfare programs. “Urbanization can launch a process of value creation,” said Xiang Songzuo, chief economist with the Agricultural Bank of China and a deputy director of the International Monetary Institute at Renmin University. “It should start a huge flow of revenues.” Even if this is true, the government will still need significant resources to get the programs started. <strong>Current</strong>ly, local governments have limited revenues and most rely on selling land to pay for expenses — an unsustainable practice in the long run. Banks are also increasingly unwilling to lend money to big infrastructure projects, Mr. Xiang said, because many banks are now listed companies and have to satisfy investors’ requirements. “Local governments are already struggling to provide benefits to local people, so why would they want to extend this to migrant workers?” said Tom Miller, a Beijing-based author of a new book on urbanization in China, “China’s Urban Billion.” “It is essential for the central government to step in and provide funding for this.” In theory, local governments could be allowed to issue bonds, but with no reliable system of rating or selling bonds, this is unlikely in the near term. Some localities, however, are already experimenting with programs to pay for at least the infrastructure by involving private investors or large state-owned enterprises that provide seed financing. Most of the costs are borne by local governments. But they rely mostly on central government transfer payments or land sales, and without their own revenue streams they are unwilling to allow newly arrived rural residents to attend local schools or benefit from health care programs. This is reflected in the fact that China officially has a 53 percent rate of urbanization, but only about 35 percent of the population is in possession of an urban residency permit, or hukou. This is the document that permits a person to register in local schools or qualify for local medical programs. The new blueprint to be unveiled this year is supposed to break this logjam by guaranteeing some central-government 44 CURRENT FALL 2017
Feature A rural migrant family shops at a mall that caters to new urbanites. support for such programs, according to economists who advise the government. But the exact formulas are still unclear. Granting full urban benefits to 70 percent of the population by 2025 would mean doubling the rate of those in urban welfare programs. “Urbanization is in China’s future, but China’s rural population lags behind in enjoying the benefits of economic development,” said Li Shuguang, professor at the China University of Political Science and Law. “The rural population deserves the same benefits and rights city folks enjoy.” By Ian Johnson, Photos by Justin Jin. POPULATION OF CHINA Registered Urban 44% 36% Registered Rural But Living Urban Rural Population 20% 56% The Economist The old buildings under these high-rises in Chongqing have been marked for demolition. FALL 2017 CURRENT 45
Page 1: THE GROWTH OF KARACHI A rural town
Page 10 and 11: EDITOR’S NOTE 2017 Tokyo 38.8 M N
Page 12 and 13: CONTENTS 29 37 FEATURES 29 37 THE F
Page 14 and 15: A CONVERSATION WITH: Printed Doors
Page 16 and 17: A DAY IN THE LIFE: BY AZAD MAJUMDER
Page 18 and 19: Indian women collect water from a b
Page 20 and 21: 20 CURRENT FALL 2017
Page 22 and 23: The middle class neighborhood of Do
Page 26 and 27: “The dream that you hoped for, th
Page 28 and 29: A Native American Tribe Struggles T
Page 30 and 31: Kenya LaMeroux wanders along Island
Page 32 and 33: Keyondre Authement, 15, throwing ro
Page 34 and 35: By 2050, 200 Million People Will Be
Page 38 and 39: China Plans To Move 70% Of The Coun
Page 40 and 41: Chen Hua, 50, moving to her new hom
Page 42 and 43: of the Institute of World Economics
Page 46 and 47: UPWARD AND OUTWARD 46 CURRENT FALL
Page 48 and 49: People cool off near a damaged wate
Page 50 and 51: The residents of Benazir Colony eit
Page 52 and 53: Karachi’s business and financial
Page 56 and 57: THE D.C.-BASED SOCIAL VENTURE, UBEL
Page 58 and 59: JUAN, 72 (left), telling the story
Page 60 and 61: AMERICA LIBERTAD, 80 (left), and he
Page 62 and 63: JUAN CASANOVA, 47 (left), showing h
Page 64 and 65: Book Review Jason De Leon’s The L
Page 66 and 67: ESSAY Refugees Get Their Own Flag F
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