China’s migrant workers must be given equal rights if rapid urbanisation is to succeed
Politburo’s call for accelerating the process of granting migrant workers full urban residency status is a welcome step in right direction
Equal rights for migrant workers may be the poster issue of China’s urbanisation. But the country’s leaders are now focusing on serious social, economic and environmental consequences of poor management of the breakneck pace of urban development.
This has resulted in many cities with overcrowded and often unsafe living and working conditions, congested traffic, eye-watering pollution and degradation of land and water resources. Amid a slowing economy, these problems must be addressed if urbanisation is to be an effective engine of growth in the drive to build a comprehensive, well-off society by 2020.
READ MORE: China vows to make its crowded, chaotic cities safer and better
Until this week, the Communist Party had not held an urban work conference since 1978, when only 18 per cent of mainlanders lived in towns and cities. The figure is now 55 per cent, or 750 million people, although fewer than 40 per cent are officially recognised as urban residents with full access to pension and education coverage.
Despite the pace of urbanisation, China has room for much more when compared with developed economies. With its potential for sustaining growth, including absorption of wasteful overcapacity, the case for urbanisation remains strong. But the rise of super cities with populations of tens of millions raises a new set of problems, including pressure on resources and environmental stress.