New Urban Space in China:

Since the late 1970s internal migration has become a fundamental feature of economicand social change in the People’s Republic of China. So has rapid urbanization as therural population moves to the cities and towns in search for work. In the process, newurban spaces have been created that not only provide the springboard for economicdevelopment but also present challenges for social coherence and stability.Considerable attention has been focussed on the impact of this migration on the largercities and on the migrants to those cities; processes that inevitably highlight thedifficulties of China’s socio-economic transformation. Nonetheless, the experiencesof those cities represent but one of the country’s urban realities. In fact, the majorityof China’s urban population live in a highly dispersed system formed by thousands ofsmall cities and towns. Through the examination of a county in North China (Hongtong County, ShanxiProvince) and its county town (Dahuishu Town) this study suggests that outside thelarger cities there may be alternative accounts of urban social change and theintegration of rural migrant workers. Empirical findings point to greater openness andflexibility in the incorporation of rural workers. Though shortcomings are stillobserved, there is also considerable governmental and social awareness of theproblems brought by rural-urban migration and urbanization processes; a willingnessto act and a capacity to promote and deliver greater social inclusion. DahuaishuTown’s distinct development experience has allowed for the construction of a moreinclusive social environment, one which provides all inhabitants, including ruralworkers with a platform towards advancing their economic and social well-being. Impossible as it is to be representative of town development throughout China, thisstudy provides an example of and a guide to alternative development processes tothose documented in large urban centres. Small town urban development in HongtongCounty is not a resolved issue, but it suggests that China’s transformation may notnecessarily result in dysfunctional and socially polarized urban environments.