Almost one-third of Chinese cities are shrinking, but urban planners told to keep building

Satellite imagery monitored the intensity of night lights in more than 3,300 cities and towns between 2013 and 2016

In 28 per cent of cases, the intensity of lights had dimmed, but urban planners are still assuming China’s urbanisation will continue, research shows

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China was already facing huge demographic and economic issues. However, a new study of satellite imagery shows that many of its towns and cities are shrinking, with experts warning that it could exacerbate the government’s problems. Photo: Simon Song

Published: 8:41pm, 18 Mar 2019Updated: 9:49am, 19 Mar 2019

The perception that China’s urbanisation is still in full swing is untrue for nearly one-third of Chinese cities, whose populations are shrinking, according to new findings by a Chinese university.

A research team from Tsinghua University used satellite imagery to monitor the intensity of night lights in more than 3,300 cities and towns between 2013 and 2016. In 28 per cent of cases, the lights had dimmed.

China now has 938 shrinking cities, according to Long Ying, an urban planning expert at China’s Tsinghua University, who founded and led the research group, Beijing City Lab. This is more than any other nation on Earth.

The findings are indicative of declining populations and economic activity across almost one-third of the cities monitored, at a time when official economic data also shows that China is facing significant economic and demographic challenges.

The coal mining town of Hegang in Heilongjiang province is among those Chinese cities under the greatest pressure from shrinking. Photo: Associated Press

Furthermore, the problem is getting worse. Between 2000 and 2012, previous analysis showed that China had fewer shrinking cities than France, Germany, the UK and the US.

Long told a seminar in Shanghai last week that he is looking forward to China’s 2020 census to see whether the trend of China’s shrinking cities is confirmed.

“The 2020 census could give us some hints [as to] whether the trend worsened further,” Long said.

The Chinese cities under the greatest pressure of shrinking include those heavily dependent on natural resources, such as the coal mining town of Hegang in Heilongjiang province.