City clusters driving growth as urbanization shifts gears in China, say experts

China's urbanization is at a turning point from rapid expansion to city upgrade, and major city clusters like the Yangtze River Delta region, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area will become the engines for future civil development, said a new report.

Since the founding of Caoyang New Village in Shanghai in 1952, China's urban area has expanded rapidly with the number of Chinese cities quadrupling over the past seven decades, according to a report by UK-based real estate adviser Savills.

"Quite a few cities have seen their urban area expand exponentially from the previous decades, but the mode will be replaced by a new type of urbanization that is characterized with development of city clusters and renovation of the present metropolitan areas," said Zhang Lin, director of Savills China Research.