China's urban question

By 2030, China's cities will be home to 1 billion people - one in every eight people on Earth. In a talk at Chatham House, Tom Miller, author of China's Urban Billion will discuss the livelihood prospects for China's urban billion and examine the future landscape of China's cities, arguing that while the rapid expansion of urban China is astonishing, new policies are urgently needed for the country to create healthier cities and reap the full benefits of urbanization

The speaker will contend that if its leaders get urbanization right, China will surpass the United States and cement its position as the world's largest economy. But if they get it wrong, China could spend the next 20 years languishing in middle-income torpor, its cities pockmarked by giant slums.

Date: April 17

Venue: Chatham House, London

Website: chathamhouse.org

(China Daily 04/12/2013 page31)