Sustainable urbanization

Urbanization holds the most potential for China's economic growth over the next couple of decades. But what kind of urbanization we need and where we will end up if we continue to follow the path we have taken over the past three decades needs the serious attention of policymakers and urban planners.

The latest study on the quality of the country's urbanization, conducted by China Economic Weekly and Urban Development and Environment Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, found that the quality of urbanization is comparatively low when it comes to urban administration and urban planning, pollution control and sustainability. So even the urbanization quality of the top 20 cities will not meet the standards we expect of a modern city if we continue to follow the path we have been doing in the years to come.

When more than 50 percent of Chinese cities suffer from a lack of water, the efficient use of water should obviously be one of the main concerns for policymakers and planners.