China: Urban Land Management in an Emerging Market Economy

During the 1980s, economic activity within China ' s cities and statutory towns, which accounts for more than half of the gross domestic product, grew at well over 10 percent per annum. In addition, the urban population grew at a rate of 5 percent per year between the census of 1982 and that of 1990. By 1990, 26 percent of China ' s population lived in urban areas. In spite of this vigorous expansion, the built-up areas of cities totaled only 12,000 square kilometers (km) in 1990, with an additi…