What Is Urban Economic Development?

The urban economy refers to the regional economy formed by the aggregation of various non-agricultural economic sectors such as industry and commerce. The urban economy is based on the city as a carrier and development space. The secondary and tertiary industries are prosperous and developed. The economic structure is continuously optimized. The production factors such as capital, technology, labor, and information are highly concentrated.

Urban economy

(Economic term)

Urban economic development is an important material foundation on which urban functions come into play. ^[1]

Emphasizing the importance of cities for the development of the entire region is an important issue that economists attach great importance to and explore for a long time. Marx,

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The characteristics of the urban economy are:

The spatial concentration of population, wealth and economic activities;

The non-agricultural economy occupies a dominant position in the entire economic activity;

Economic activities are open to the outside world.

The urban economy is the product of the development of human society to a certain stage, and it is caused by the separation of urban and rural areas with the development of the second social division of laborthe separation of agriculture and handicrafts and the development of commodity exchange. The development of the urban economy is not only constrained by the level of productivity of the entire society and the nature of production relations, but it is also always linked to changes in urban-rural relations.

Pre-capitalist societies, whether in European or Asian cities, were mostly the political, military, cultural, and religious centers of the society at the time, and were a gathering place of commerce and handicrafts. The urban economy was largely characterized by consumer economies. The development of capitalism has accelerated the process of urbanization. The emergence of the big machine industry has made the industry increasingly concentrated.

In the future, we must do the following:

(1) Take the centralized new industrialization road. Realizing industrialization and promoting the prosperity and development of the secondary and tertiary industries are the basis for developing and strengthening the urban economy. In today's world, the pace of global industrial restructuring is accelerating, which brings challenges to the industrial development of the western region and adds momentum; the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China has proposed that we must adhere to the new path of industrialization. This is a new historical period. The party's central government has made a major strategic plan for industrialization. This has brought important opportunities for the accelerated industrialization of the western region. The western regions should review the situation, seize the historical opportunities, and strive to improve the level of industrialization.

(2) Developing large and medium cities. China has had fierce debates on the choice of urbanization roads. Developing cities must be tailored to local conditions. The western region has a wide area, low population density, rich natural resources, and fragile ecological environment. The agglomeration effect and scale effect of small cities and towns are low, which is not conducive to the development of industry and service industries, and cannot form a strong driving economy. In particular, environmental pollution cannot be managed on a large scale, which will put greater pressure on the already fragile ecology. In addition, the western commodity economy is underdeveloped, many towns and counties have limited fiscal revenue, lack industrial support, and lack the strength to carry out the "city-building" campaign. Therefore, the road to urbanization in the west should focus on the development of large and medium cities.

(3) Realize function improvement. For a long time, China's cities have a single function, a backward industrial structure, and a difficult economic restructuring. These are common problems that western cities face. In this sense, urbanization in the west faces two tasks: one is to promote the movement and concentration of the population and increase the proportion of the urban population; the other is to enhance the function of the city and change the industrial city into a trade, service, and consumption type And other comprehensive cities. These two tasks are interdependent and indispensable. To improve the function of the city, the key points are:

First, adjust the industrial structure and change the single resource-based development model. Expand and extend the existing industries, cultivate new leading industries, and increase new sources of income.

Second, vigorously develop the tertiary industry. Strengthen the reform of logistics and socialization of state-owned enterprises and institutions to reduce the burden on enterprises; improve the level of consumer credit services of banks, stimulate residents to consume large-scale commodities such as housing, automobiles, etc .; carry out service trade with tourism as the leader and expand the market in the country Occupancy rate; vigorously develop modern service industries such as commerce and trade, finance, insurance, and consulting.

(4) Promote institutional innovation. Institutions are an important factor in advancing the development of a region. In the coming period, institutional innovation will be required in the following areas to promote the development of the western region.

First, land system innovation. The western region can attract investment by substituting low land prices by substantially extending the time that enterprises use land property rights. This is equivalent to increasing land investment income by clarifying and hardening the long-term use of property rights, which is an important institutional condition for attracting inflows of factors.

Second, tax policy innovation. The tax preferential policies in the west should be adjusted to increase the return on investment of the factors in the west.

Third, the transformation of government functions. It is necessary to streamline party and government organs and other institutions, reduce the size of personnel, and divert people who eat royal food. On this basis, further transform government functions, optimize the development environment, improve service efficiency, and increase the attractiveness to various factors.

Fourth, reform of the household registration system. Gradually liberalize the household registration restrictions in large and medium-sized cities in the west, and give those foreigners with a fixed residence and fixed income a formal residence status to clear up obstacles for them to live in the city. Fifth, gradually change the rules of informal institutions.

Ideas and cultural practices that have been passed down in the West for thousands of years have a very strong restraining effect on people's behavior. This greatly limits the implementation of formal institutional rules. It is necessary to make full use of the opportunity to develop the urban economy, use the market concept to constantly impact the thinking mode of the people in the west, and strive to create conditions for the implementation of various systems and inject new vitality into the development of the west.

Urban economy