Introduction

The first chapter introduces three puzzles—the longevity of the CCP, China’s comparative lack of slums, and China’s recent fiscal shift away from urban bias—linked by geography. People’s locations and proximity to each other matter politically. China’s relative lack of slums arises from policies that prevent people from moving to them. Taxing agriculture and spending the proceeds in cities encourages urban concentration. The political importance of the location of citizens within a territory is less appreciated. Without other sizable cities to offset its weight, the street politics of a single large city can come to dominate a country’s politics in ways that yield short-lived regimes. A large population can mobilize at a moment’s notice. These mobilizations create the opportunity for political crises to bring down a regime with little warning. Governments shape cities, and the shape of cities can transform the politics of urban and regime instability.