As part of our Urban Workshop Series, the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) and Centre de Sciences Humaines (CSH), Delhi are delighted to invite you to a Workshop on Decoding China’s Urban Dilemmas by Geeta Kochhar. Date: Tuesday, 26 February 2013 Time: 3.45 p.m. ________________ China presents a unique model of urbanization, whereby the actual extent of urban population is rising, without the grant of urban status to many such residents. While a debate over residency issue is underway, it is pertinent to understand China’s overall urbanization policy and the reasons behind the enhanced figures of urban population. The paper unfolds the path of China’s urbanization process and highlights the challenges the state will face in future. An attempt is made to decode the legal issues due to which China is able to project itself as “Cities without slums”. The paper makes a preliminary comparison of Delhi’s villages with Guangzhou’s “villages in cities” (Chengzhongcun), which puts forth the future urban challenges for the Chinese authorities. The paper is based on the premise that increased mobility will result in unplanned expansion of cities, which will amplify demand for social equality and destruction of old institutional barriers that erected walls for social exclusion. Dr. Geeta Kochhar is currently an Assistant Professor in the Centre for Chinese and South East Asian Studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University. She focuses on Chinese society and works on urbanization and development processes and consequent spatial restructuring and demographic changes in China. She was awarded the Asia Fellowship to undertake research on understanding Chinese rural-to-urban mobility and the emergence of ‘villages in cities’. Among her publications include “Markets & Migrants: Redefining China’s Urban Social Welfare System” [China: An International Journal, Sept. 2010, 8 (2): 193-219]; “Globalization and China’s Urbanization: Effect on Cities and Migrant Population [Ning Yuemin (ed.) China Urban Series, vol.3, The Commercial Press, Nov. 2010; and “China’s Urban Poor: An Expanding Social Stratum” (Discussion Paper of the China Policy Institute, University of Nottingham, Oct. 2008). Dr. Kochhar was trained in Chinese language, is a fluent speaker of Mandarin. She received her PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University, and in her doctoral research, she focused on Chinese cities and labour migration. __________________ This is the thirty seventh in a series of Urban Workshops planned by the Centre de Sciences Humaines (CSH), New Delhi and Centre for Policy Research (CPR). These workshops seek to provoke public discussion on issues relating to the development of the city and try to address all its facets including its administration, culture, economy, society, and politics. For further information, please contact: Marie-Hélène Zerah at marie-helene.zerah@ird.fr or Partha Mukhopadhyay at partha@cprindia.org
