The "Community Question" in the State-led Urbanization Process of Post-reform China: A Case Study of Shanghai.

详细信息   

• 作者：Xu ; Ying.
• 学历：Ph.D.
• 年：2011
• 关键词：community question ; post-reform China ; social netw
• 导师：Chan, Edwin H.W.,eadvisorTang, Bo-sin,eadvisor
• 毕业院校：Hong Kong Polytechnic University
• ISBN：9781124725192
• CBH：3462007
• Country：China
• 语种：English
• FileSize：7438547
• Pages：212

文摘

The fate of community in industrialized and urbanized society, generalized by Barry Wellman as the "community question" in the 1970s, has been extensively researched by urbanists and sociologists. The concept is mainly about examining the transformation of social networks when rural residents move to urban areas, and the ways urbanization processes affect social networks. Since the market-oriented economic reforms in 1978, Chinese cities have experienced rapid urbanization processes. Urbanization in China is perceived to be unique because of the countrys peculiar institutional settings and urbanization policies. Therefore, this research focuses on the "community question" with regard to Chinese urbanization. It examines whether the unique urbanization process in post-reform China will lead to a response to the "community question" different from that in other countries. This research, with the example of urbanization led by state-initiated land requisition in Shanghai, finds that the transformation of farmers social networks in the urbanization process of post-reform China is generally in line with the well-established argument of "community lost". However, there are still some different manifestations in the case of Chinese urbanization. 1) There are some peculiar changes in the structure of farmers social networks during the urbanization process, such as the constitution of farmers social networks, places and means of social contact； 2) The decline of interpersonal social ties among farmers is non-linear in the urbanization process, which is different from the common assertion of linear transformation in literature； 3) The dynamics between urbanization processes and social networks in post-reform China is dissimilar with that in other countries. Finally, by applying the conceptual analytical framework that is developed based on the unique features of urbanization processes, this study has successfully explained the different manifestations on the "community question" in post-reform China. Thus, this conceptual analytical framework can be regarded as a strategic tool in understanding the "community question" in post-reform China, and also it provides research direction for similar research.