China’s Urbanization
城市化是人们从人口较少的农村地区迁移到城镇的过程。在全球范围内，它被视为经济增长的强大引擎。无一例外，中国高度重视城市化进程，并见证了这一进程带来的深刻变化。了解以下几个问题对于理解中国的城市化进程至关重要。
1.中国的城市化有什么了不起的地方？
考虑到中国人口众多，中国城市化的规模和速度在人类历史上是前所未有的。1949年，即中华人民共和国成立之年，中国城市人口仅占总人口的10.6%，远低于当时全球29%的城市化率。截至2019年底，中国城镇化率首次达到60%，已经高于全球56%的平均水平。中国在70年内实现了如此快速的城市化。相比之下，美国花了一个多世纪的时间。
可以说，中国的经济繁荣与城市化是齐头并进的。日益增长的城市化提高了农村居民在城市就业的平均收入，增加国内消费，并产生了对基础设施、公共服务设施和住房建设的需求。这些变化给中国带来了持续的动力，促进了经济发展。
2.中国城市化有什么新进展？
尽管有许多经济效益，但快速城市化的旧模式是不可持续的，并带来了问题。不仅环境受到影响，人们的生活质量也受到影响——大城市人满为患、房价飙升、交通拥堵和污染等等。为了更好地为发展服务，城市化必须做出新的改变。这就是为什么2014年3月16日，中国发布了《国家新型城镇化规划（2014-2020）》。该计划建立了一种以人为中心的新型城市化模式。与旧模式不同，它注重质量而非数量。
3.中国新型城镇化取得了哪些成就？
新型城镇化建设取得了许多成就。其中，城市群的培育和特色小镇带来了显著的变化。
在理想的城市群中，大城市拥有相互连接的城际铁路网络(城际铁路）, 高速公路和其他交通工具也延伸到附近的小城镇。中国“十三五”规划将城市群作为新型城镇化的主要形式。因此，全国已经形成了19个城市群。例如长江三角洲、珠江三角洲和京津冀沿岸的城市群(京津冀） 区域，到2018年，这19个集群已经成为磁石，聚集了75%以上的城市人口，创造了80%以上的国民生产总值，而只覆盖了25%的土地。由于高度一体化，这些城市群产生了更强的竞争力，极大地影响了地区、国家甚至全球经济增长。
特色小镇的概念是基于“一个小镇一个特色产业”的模式，在这种模式下，每个地区都专门从事一项主要业务或特色。旨在推动小城市或小村庄的经济转型，促进乡村振兴。浙江省率先提出了这一想法。它协调了众多的小镇迅速发展，每个小镇都有一套特定的特色，比如乌镇的互联网小镇或丽水摄影城。从2016年起，这一理念被中央政府采纳并推广为新型城镇化的新模式。全国约有403个国家级特色小镇。
这些城镇的发展有助于创造新的就业机会，并使农村居民能够留在繁荣的小城镇。
在制度创新和系统创新的支持下，中国城市化已从快速扩张转向城市升级，在促进可持续健康增长的同时，进一步释放了城市化的发展潜力。新型城镇化将以人为中心，继续缩小城乡差距，扩大就业机会，改善民生。
Urbanization is the process of people migrating from less-populous rural areas to towns and cities. Across the globe, it is valued as a powerful engine for economic growth. Without exception, China has attached great significance to the urbanization process, and has witnessed profound changes. To help you better understand this, here are a few key points.
1. What is so great about China’s urbanization?
Considering its huge population, the scale and speed of China’s urbanization is unprecedented（史无前例） in human history. In 1949, the founding year of the People’s Republic of China, its urban population accounted for only 10.6 percent of the total, much lower than the global urbanization rate of 29 percent at that time. By the end of 2019, China’s urbanization rate surpassed（超过） 60 percent for the first time, already higher than the global average of 56 percent. China accomplished such rapid urbanization in 70 years. By contrast, it took the US more than a century.
It could be said that China’s economic boom goes hand in hand with its urbanization. The increasing urbanization has raised rural residents’ average income through employment in cities, unleashed（释放） domestic consumption, and created the need for infrastructure（基础设施）, public service facilities and housing construction. These changes gave China continuous impetus（动能） for economic development.
2. What is new about China’s urbanization?
Despite its many economic benefits, the old model of rapid urbanization is unsustainable（不可持续） and has brought problems. Not only has the environment suffered, but people’s living quality are affected—overcrowding in large cities, soaring housing prices, traffic congestion and pollution, to name just a few. For urbanization to better serve development, new changes have to be made.That’s why on March 16, 2014, China issued the National New-type Urbanization Plan (2014-2020). The plan established a new model for urbanization, which is human-centered. Unlike the old model, it focuses on quality rather than quantity.
3. What are the achievements of China’s new-type urbanization?
Many achievements have been made in constructing the new-type urbanization. Among them, the cultivation of city clusters （城市群）and characteristic towns（特色小镇） has brought notable changes.
In an ideal city cluster, big cities have an interconnected network of intercity rail（城际铁路）, expressways and other transportation which also extends to small towns nearby. China’s 13th Five-year Plan takes city clusters as the main form of new-type urbanization. Accordingly, 19 city clusters have been formed over the country. Examples are city clusters along the Yangtze River delta, Pearl River delta, and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei（京津冀） region. By 2018, the 19 clusters had become magnets, gathering more than 75 percent of the urban population and generating over 80 percent of the national GDP while covering only 25 percent of the land. Being highly integrated, these city clusters produce stronger competitiveness and greatly influence regional, national and even global economic growth.
The concept of characteristic towns is based on the “one-town-one-characteristic-industry” model, under which each area specializes in one primary business or feature. It aims to drive the economic transition of small cities or villages and promote rural revitalization（乡村振兴）. Zhejiang Province pioneered the idea. It coordinated numerous small towns to develop rapidly, each with a specific set of characteristics, such as the Internet Town of Wuzhen or Lishui Photography City. From 2016 onward, the idea has been adopted and promoted by the central government as a new pattern for the new-type urbanization. Across China, there are about 403 national characteristic towns.
The development of such towns helps create new jobs and enables rural residents to remain in small, thriving towns.
Supported by institutional and systematic innovation, China’s urbanization has shifted from rapid expansion to city upgrade, further unleashing the development potential of urbanization while facilitating sustainable, healthy growth. By putting people at the center, the new-type urbanization will continue to narrow the urban-rural gap, expand job opportunities, and improve people’s livelihoods.
声明：本文取材于《新探索研究生英语》视频文字，供教学使用。如有侵权，联系删除。