China’s New Geography

This book explores China’s spatial future through 2060, a future which will be dramatically different from both the Opening Up period starting in 1979, when the rules of landscape building were rewritten, and the Factory of the World era following China’s 2001 WTO accession. Drawing on decades of participation in China’s spatial transformation, the authors explore the country’s future landscape by analyzing the intersecting forces of demographic, societal, economic, policy, and technological change. They examine a rapidly changing context shaped by population decline, the pursuit of global technological leadership, and changing lifestyles and consumption patterns.

The book addresses pressing questions: How will China’s hollowing out rural landscapes be transformed as new economic nodes emerge based on alternative energy production, digitally enabled agriculture, ecological restoration and amenity development? As urbanization peaks at 85% and China’s urban population declines by at least 125 million between 2030 and 2060, how will the national urban system be reshaped? Which urban clusters will emerge as new “Silicon Valleys”? Which will be caught in negative rust belt cycles? And as urban outward expansion and physical development slows dramatically, how will technological change, shifting social expectations, and new mobility and production systems reshape China’s built landscape? This will be a useful resource for designers, investors, developers and all those interested in better understanding China’s emerging new geography and landscape, as well as students and academics across a range of disciplines, including Urban and Regional Planning, Landscape Architecture, Geography and Asian Studies.