The China Dream is an Urban Dream: Assessing the CPC’s National New-Type Urbanization Plan

The future of China is inexorably an urban one. Within the next 15 years, a billion Chinese—70 % of the population—will be living in urbanized areas. In anticipation of this, in March of 2014 the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the State Council issued the National New-Type Urbanization Plan (国家新型城镇化规划), China’s first official plan on urbanization. The plan emphasizes a “human-centered and environmentally friendly path” to urbanization over the next decade. In concrete terms, this will mean urban hukou expansion, infrastructure development and investment, and rural land-use reform. For many urban migrants and rural residents likely to be moved, “The China Dream” (中国梦) via urbanization fulfills Deng Xiaoping’s call for a “moderately prosperous society” (小康社会) by encouraging the aspirations of those left behind after 35 years of Reform and Opening-up. This paper will assess the role that the China Dream plays in China’s efforts to expand urbanization and enhance China’s efforts at boosting domestic consumption and maintaining social stability.