Archived GAC Evening Events

A summary on China's drastic urbanization

The graph shows the percentage of Chinese population living in urban areas until 2014. In 2012, about 53 percent of the total population lived in cities.

A look at China’s New Urbanization Plan

The Economist gives a brief history of the recent urbanization of China.

This article shares a glimpse into China's urbanization and its effects on children.

This CNN article discusses the emotional and psychological implications of China's urbanization.

This article gives an introduction to the Hukou system and how it affects urbanization and daily life in China.

This article takes a look at how China's government-driven effort to push the population to towns and cities is reshaping a nation that for millenniums has been defined by its rural life.

A look at the effects of the One-Child law in China

A look at China's left-behind children

Some background on the speaker for this event

Speaker Kam Wing Chan introduces China's Household Registration System, China's migration statistics and trends, and more.

In some of China's poorest regions, millions of adults have fled their villages in search of work, leaving behind young children who must fend for themselves.

Like millions of Chinese migrant workers, 13-year-old Zhu Chengyu’s mother left their hometown to seek work in a southeast coastal city five years ago, and his father died at the same year. At that moment, Zhu became a "left-behind child”, which is the Chinese term to describe children left behind in rural areas under the care of relatives after their parents emigrate to the city in search of better work.

"On China" host Kristie Lu Stout discusses the problems migrant workers face due to the discriminatory hukou system.

In some of China's poorest regions, millions of adults have fled their villages in search of work, leaving behind young children who must fend for themselves.

China's rapid urbanization has resulted in over 260 million migrant workers as of 2012, many of whom have to leave their home to work faraway. As a result, there are now over 60 million children being left at home alone, many of whom have to shoulder the burden of their elderly relatives, and work to support their younger siblings. In today's program, we find out how these children really feel about their lives and how they see their futures, by revealing extracts from their diaries.

In its massive transition from rural to urban, China is now facing daunting challenges of quality and efficiency. Paul Romer, NYU Stern Professor and Director of the Urbanization Project, will explore what lessons can be learned from China's urbanization experience.

Professor Tao Ran of Renmin University has spent almost two decades studying land reform, local governance, public finance and urbanization issues in China. In today’s ‘On the Level’ he gives his views on recently announced reforms to China’s household registration or ‘hukou’ system, which formally divides citizens into urban and rural residents, land reform in general and the government’s plan to urbanize hundreds of millions of Chinese rural dwellers by 2020.