Development and environment: the case of rural industrialization and small-town growth in China

Rural industrialization and small-town growth are prominent and distinctive features of China's phenomenal economic growth since the Open Door Policy was introduced around 1980. Such developments are most advanced in the coastal provinces, but are steadily diffusing westwards. Major concerns of these developments are their impact on China's food production capability and a general degradation of the rural environment. The trend of progressive land loss since the 1950s has been accentuated, the pollution burden in rural areas has risen, and workers have been attracted away from agriculture by the greater rewards of industrial work with a consequent lowering of land maintenance and husbandry standards. Resource constraints and the administrative system limit the likely effectiveness of environmental protection by coercion. Incentives, through the tax system, are suggested as a possible approach to limiting the environmental impacts of rural industrialization, but must be complemented by strenuous measures to enhance environmental awareness.