China's urban population rate has doubled since 1980 and the Chinese government has made further urbanization a developmental priority. How Chinese cities cope with such rapid population increases has become a question of critical concern. urbanization. The scope of the book includes: urbanization and welfare programmes; the development of the labour market including migration between rural and urban sectors; income disparities between rural and urban sectors among China's regions and within the urban sector; and natural and social environmental issues arising from urbanization. its sister volume (Urban Transformation in China) a comprehensive and multi-disciplinary overview of China's urbanization process is provided.