'It's All a Matter of Hats': Rural Urbanization in South-West China

Abstract

Like many developing countries, rural China has been undergoing rapid urbanization. This article addresses the political and economic constraints that have come to shape the pattern of rural urbanization in the south-west of the country. As a means primarily to enhance the political career of local leadership, urbanization has been achieved at the expense of peasant livelihood. Fieldwork results show that prosperity and modernization in the urbanized areas are overshadowed by loss of farmland, environmental degradation and escalating financial burdens encountered by village residents. The outcome illustrates how politics determines the path of economic development in the locality, and who is the real beneficiary of urbanization.