Research firm to help accelerate China's urbanization

Cushman & Wakefield, a leading global real estate services firm, on Monday signed an agreement with the China Center for Urban Development (CCUD) to start a research program that aims to accelerate China's urbanization process.

CCUD is a public institution directly under the National Development and Reform Commission, providing guidance to its pilot cities for urban reform and development.

The target of the 13th Five Year Plan is to increase the rate of urbanization for registered permanent residents from 37.5 percent by 2015 to 45 percent by 2020, which means that the population of households registered will grow by 100 million in five years.

Tao Ruhong, Cushman & Wakefield's vice-president for Greater China, said many property developers found opportunities in the urbanization process and launched too many building projects, which meant many urban areas turned into ghost towns without many people living in them.

"In the process of urbanization, the construction of new towns should not focus on building houses, but a comprehensive project that is resident-friendly, including supporting industries and public services and better management to make the towns good for living," Tao said. "And there is a strong financing demand for urban construction."

Wang Jin, deputy director of CCUD's International Cooperation Department, offered his organization's thoughts.

"We suggest that the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) play a bigger role in this process and introduce some high-yield projects to attract social capital to promote urban construction," he said.

Xu He contributed to this story