Chinese History/Urban Studies

“John Friedmann captures the most profound aspects of China's stunning urbanization and makes sense of its world-historic importance.” -Fulong Wu, editor of Globalization and the Chinese City

“This is an extremely timely publication that clarifies the web of forces and players involved in China's dramatic urban transition without forgetting the historical backdrop peculiar to this vast country with a long history of urban experience.” -Heng Chye Kiang, National University of Singapore

China's Urban Transition provides the first integrated treatment of the processes that encompass the multilayered meaning of urbanization. John Friedmann's analysis suggests that the nation's economic development has been driven more by social forces from within than by global capital. Focusing on everyday life in cities, the author shows how this social transformation extends to the most intimate spheres of people's lives. In conclusion, he raises the question of a “sustainable” urban development and its relation with China's own past, values, and institutions. Friedmann predicts that within ten years China-already the most powerful country in East Asia-will have become a major power in the world.

John Friedmann is professor emeritus in the School of Public Policy and Social Research at the University of California, Los Angeles, and honorary professor in the Faculty of Graduate Studies at the University of British Columbia. He is the author of many distinguished works, most recently The Prospect of Cities (Minnesota, 2002).

University of Minnesota Press
Printed in U.S.A.
Cover design by Jeanne Lee
Cover photograph by the author