China, People's Republic of : Leveraging Greater Mekong Subregion Cooperation Mechanisms for the County-Level Sustainable Urbanization—Cases of Guangxi and Yunnan

Public sector management / Public administration

Water and other urban infrastructure and services / Urban policy, institutional and capacity development

Urbanization in the Peoples Republic of China. The PRC has experienced rapid urbanization since 1978 when reform began to be implemented and opening-up started. The urbanization rate of 17.9% in 1978 reached 60.6% in 2019, and the PRC''s Fourteenth Five-Year Plan targets to achieve 65.0% by 2025. Urbanization was the critical driver of economic growth, and it brought remarkable prosperity to the country. However, the rapid, land-based, and supply-driven urbanization compromised the quality of peoples life and development, which caused social inequality and environmental degradation. The PRC launched an urbanization plan in 2014 with a new people-centered urbanization model. It aimed to optimize the patterns of urbanization, enhance the sustainability of cities, and promote urban-rural integration, especially the orderly integration of rural migrants into urban residents. Despite the urbanization achievements and shifted focus to people-centered urbanization, challenges remain. Many rural dwellers migrated and became urban residents, but essential urban services and infrastructure to accommodate them, especially social security, are still inadequate. Industries from the PRCs developed east coast area have shifted to some inland cities, but the peoples skills development in the inland cities are not necessarily matched with the needs of the relocated industries. Local governments rely on land-based development revenue, which results in an unsustainable rise in government debts and urban expansions. Climate risks and environmental degradation require a further shift from traditional linear and resource-intensive urbanization.

People-centered urbanization at counties and county-level cities promoted

The holistic approach to develop livable cities supported

Policies and project designs on county-level sustainable urbanization leveraging GMS cooperation improved

Practical policy recommendations to implement county-level urbanization coordinated with GMS initiatives developed

Policy makers' capacity on county-level urbanization and GMS cooperation strengthened

Following the discussions with NDRC in February 2022, four individual consultant selections (three national and one international) were advertised, shortlisted consultants were interviewed, and NDRC's concurrence to the shortlist was requested.

In April 2022, another meeting with NDRC was held to discuss the consultant selection. To better meet the needs of NDRC, changes to the TA consulting service positions were agreed upon. The revised positions were approved through a minor change in implementation arrangements in May 2022. The individual consultant selections were re-advertised and all consultants were engaged by July 2022. To meet NDRC''s requests, the TA completion date was also extended by 6 months until 31 December 2023.

An inception mission in August 2022 held discussions with representatives from the executing and implementing agencies and consultants. The mission (i) introduced the team members, (ii) discussed the research methodologies and work plan, and (iii) discussed the adjusted implementation schedule.