By Wang Wei, Deng Yusong & Zhao Yong, Institute of Market Economy, DRC

Research Report, No.129, 2018 (Total 5404) 2018-8-15

Abstract: Yunnan province’s urbanization will continue to develop at a rapid pace in the next five to ten years and its urbanization rate will go beyond 50 percent. During this period, Yunnan’s urbanization drive will witness the change from a rapid development to a high-quality development, the shift of urbanization development model as well as the improvement of development quality. This will be a major period for the differentiated urbanization progress and the exploration of diverse development approaches. In the coming few years, Yunnan’s urbanization will usher in major strategic opportunities for swift progress bolstered by advanced globalization, the implementation of the “Belt and Road” Initiative, the new round of technological revolution, domestic consumption upgrading, accelerated service industry growth and the focus shift of the national urbanization strategy. Meanwhile, Yunnan’s urbanization will also face immense challenges resulting from the intensified competition between the core cities in Southern and Southeastern Asia and diversified and competitive regional development in neighboring provinces. Against such a landscape, Yunnan province needs to make efforts to address the following problems such as the small size of cities in the province, insufficient drivers for urbanization, inadequate capabilities in concentrating and allocating innovation factors, resource restraints, low cross-city interconnectivity and the sluggish mindset on urbanization development.

Key words: urbanization, development stage, opportunities, challenges, Yunnan province