In southwest China, one municipality is trying to usher in a new modern age by encouraging rural residents to move into urban areas. The flood may create one of the most populous cities in the world, but many rural migrants are hesitant to move.
"According to official figures, about 45% of Chongqing's people live in urban areas (nearly half in the would-be-Manhattan of Chongqing proper). But Chongqing's leaders, determined to make their vast municipality an oasis of modernity in China's backward west, say that by 2020 the municipality must be 70% 'urbanised'."
"Statistics like these make China's property developers drool. The municipality's official population is more than 30m, which if it were a single city would make it one of the largest in the world. To achieve the 2020 target, country-dwellers must move into urban areas at a rate of more than 500,000 a year. Large numbers of farmers will also seek their fortunes in other parts of China. Thanks to the lure of the wealthy coast, many have already done so. Chongqing's resident population - official population minus migrants to other provinces - fell by 500,000 between 2000 and 2005. But around half of those who migrate to urban areas remain in Chongqing municipality."
"Much of China's migration to the cities is therefore temporary - many city dwellers will one day return to their farms-and some scholars reckon Chongqing's real urbanisation rate is far lower than the official figures suggest."
FULL STORY: China's Chicago

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Map: Where Senate Republicans Want to Sell Your Public Lands
For public land advocates, the Senate Republicans’ proposal to sell millions of acres of public land in the West is “the biggest fight of their careers.”

Restaurant Patios Were a Pandemic Win — Why Were They so Hard to Keep?
Social distancing requirements and changes in travel patterns prompted cities to pilot new uses for street and sidewalk space. Then it got complicated.

Platform Pilsner: Vancouver Transit Agency Releases... a Beer?
TransLink will receive a portion of every sale of the four-pack.

Toronto Weighs Cheaper Transit, Parking Hikes for Major Events
Special event rates would take effect during large festivals, sports games and concerts to ‘discourage driving, manage congestion and free up space for transit.”

Berlin to Consider Car-Free Zone Larger Than Manhattan
The area bound by the 22-mile Ringbahn would still allow 12 uses of a private automobile per year per person, and several other exemptions.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
Custer County Colorado
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)