URBANIZATION & INSTITUTIONS IN CHINA Gradate Summer School

2016/6/15 10:00:22

Urbanization & Institutions in China

Graduate School of East Asian Studies, Free University of Berlin

Shanghai, China

August 13-21, 2016

This summer workshop for graduate students explores how political, social, economic, and cultural institutions shape large-scale urbanization. China is currently undertaking a massive urbanization drive that aims to integrate more than two-hundred and fifty million rural residents into cities over the next decade. The globally unprecedented scale of this state-led project not only represents a dramatic acceleration of longstanding historical trends in Chinese demographics, it also places enormous strains on the interplay of government policies with the institutions that structure urban life for the hundreds of millions of residents living in Chinese cities. From the rules for household registration to property rights and dispute resolution, existing systems of urban management are being reformed. From consumer spending to foreign investment and urban entrepreneurship, new patterns of economic activity are emerging. And from education, health and eldercare, to the environment, social and cultural resources are facing new levels of stress. Top-down urbanization projects in other parts of the world such as Mexico and Brazil have often led to increased social inequality and instability rather than economic growth, raising the urgent question of where the Chinese government’s current urban policy will lead and what impact it will have not only within China but also more broadly across the East Asian region.

Program

The program will be held at Shanghai Jiaotong University and combine daily lectures by experts and practitioners with selected readings, group discussions, and local excursions. Excursion will be to sites of direct relevance to the topics of the lectures and discussions, including museums, urban neighborhoods, development zones, and a day-trip to the nearby city of Suzhou. Participants will work together in groups and deliver presentations on program themes related to their own research in relevant fields. All activities will be conducted in English.

Costs

There is no fee for participation in the workshop. The costs of all group activities, including local excursions and group dinners, are covered by the organizers. Participants are responsible for all other individual costs, including their own airfare, lodging, meals, local transportation, visa fees, and travel insurance.

Schedule

SJTU postgraduate students are welcome to join this program with tuituion wavier.

Students who are interested in joinning this summer school, pls send your CV to Professor Zhang (junhuazhang@sjtu.edu.cn ) before June 30.