Rapid Urbanization in China

Abstract

Urbanization in China in the past 20 years has been happening at an unprecedented scale, with little comparison anywhere else worldwide. Cities like Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, have grown more than 300-fold in the past 30 years. This growth has come with remarkable gains in health, but also is accompanied by particular challenges, both those typical of large cities anywhere and those challenges specifically presented by rapid growth in East Asia. This chapter discusses urbanization in China, drawing lessons that illuminate the particularities of what has transpired in China and that also have generalizable implications for urban health worldwide.