Urban population densities and their policy implications in China

In China, sonic people believe that urban land has a large potential for absorbing more of the urban population. while others think that urban population density is very high, and has already caused many urban problems. The population density of 135 major cities is studied by using the city population data (Shiren kou) front the Fifth Census of China in 2000. The data included the floating population who lived in cities for more than 6 months/year, so it could more closely reflect the real size of the urban population. Land-use data were obtained from a digital map interpreted front remotely sensed data collected in 2000. The results show that urban population density was fairly high in China and the average urban land per capita of these cities was only about 76 m(2) in 2000, but that the corresponding value was 106 m(2) if it was calculated with the non-agricultural population. Moreover, urban population density varied greatly between cities: from 4 x 10(3) to 22 x 10(3)/km(2). Regression results show the differences in urban population density were strongly related to six independent variables, including wage per capita, city size and shape index of urban land, etc. The policies derived from the results deserve more attention in the new land-use planning with the target year of 2020 in China. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.