Seven Prototypical Chinese Cities

USC's SPPD Research Seminar Series presents a talk by Professor Eric Heikkila on China's national urban planning strategies.

Not all Chinese cities are alike, and these differences are reflected in the challenges posed by urbanization and the corresponding responses cities undertake.  From a national perspective, however, similarities are essential for formulating broad urbanization strategies. Our research addresses this dilemma through a cluster analysis based on key word coding of principal tasks outlined in the 11th Five-Year Plans of 286 major cities in China.  In effect, the Five-Year plan becomes a proxy survey instrument.  Seven distinct clusters emerge, and an additional analysis using socio-economic data from the China City Statistical Yearbook is undertaken to further identify the defining characteristics of each cluster and prototypical cities within them (Jilin, Liuzhou, Zhuzhou, Nanping, Xinyu, Chengde and Mianyang). Finally, implications for national urban planning strategies are discussed.

Please RSVP to:
Shawn Gong
tgong@usc.edu
(by noon, Tuesday, September 27)
Lunch will be served to those who RSVP.  Vegetarian options will be available.

Professor Biography:

Eric Heikkila is Professor and Director of International Initiatives at the School of Policy, Planning, and Development (SPPD) at the University of Southern California (USC), where he has been a member of the faculty for twenty-five years.  He is also a member of USC U.S-China Institute's Executive Committee.

His research addresses a wide range of topics bearing on the geographical, economic, cultural and historical factors that influence urban development trajectories. He has applied spatial analysis, fuzzy sets and agent based modeling to study urban structure. Other aspects of his work include a more qualitative, policy oriented approach to urban development issues, especially in the context of the Asia Pacific region. He is conversant in several languages, including French and Mandarin, and has spent sabbatical leaves as a visiting scholar on separate occasions at National Taiwan University (Department of Geography), Peking University (Department of Urban and Environmental Sciences), and Chinese University of Hong Kong (Department of Geography and Resource Management). Shortly after joining USC, he became founding Executive Secretary of the Pacific Rim Council on Urban Development (PRCUD), a globally based non-governmental organization that continues to thrive under his initiative, and that organizes regular forums in host cities throughout the Asia Pacific region. As Director of International Initiatives, Dr. Heikkila has broad responsibility for planning and coordinating SPPD’s global engagement.