The existing problems of counter-urbanization

Urban problems

The main manifestations are: 1. The layout is scattered and the overall urban planning is relatively backward. In the urban-rural juncture (at the intersection of urban and rural areas), there are “forgotten corners” and “vacuums” in planning and management.

2. Excessive land occupation and prominent land use conflicts. .

3. Infrastructure construction such as road transportation and public services is relatively insufficient and backward.

4. Urban historical and cultural heritage cannot be well protected.

5. Humanistic problems in urban construction are serious. In the process of large-scale urban suburbanization, accompanied by the relocation of a large number of industrial parks and the construction of a large number of urban residential buildings, new highways or urban infrastructure must be built every year to meet the needs of urban expansion. Many farmers lost their farmland and homes due to government coercion or arrangements through market forces. The subsidies given by the government may be a drop in the bucket, and coupled with possible deductions at all levels, what actually reaches farmers is simply not enough to cover the costs of farmers moving to another place. Many farmers fell into poverty, and some even became beggars wandering the streets of the city. All this goes against the original intentions of city policymakers. This kind of humanistic problem caused by urban sprawl is very serious in many large, medium and small cities, and has become a pain in the hearts of relevant city management departments.

Data

A survey conducted by the Zhejiang Provincial Household Registration Management Department in August 2010 found that the number of "agricultural-to-non-agricultural residents" in the province dropped from 577,000 in 2004 to 189,000 last year. The drop was 67%. The phenomenon of "counter-urbanization" in which people are unwilling to settle in cities and even move their registered residence from cities back to rural areas has appeared in the eastern coastal areas of China. Coincidentally, "amphibious" civil servants appeared in Zhejiang. Not long ago, more than 200 civil servants in Yiwu moved their household registration to rural areas to compete for compensation and dividends. Some civil servants moved their household registration to rural areas in order to "become farmers". In stark contrast, the reform of the household registration system in Chongqing has been fully launched, and the work of converting rural residents into non-agricultural residents has been fully launched. Since the city opened a household registration transfer window for household registration reform on August 1, the majority of rural residents have been more enthusiastic about participating in the household registration system reform.

Why do civil servants with "iron rice bowls" strive to become farmers? Why are the situations of "agricultural-to-non-agricultural transfer" so different in the east and west regions of my country? In an interview with a reporter from People's Daily Online, experts said that in the final analysis, this difference is mainly caused by the benefits contained in the land. "There is a big difference between the east and west regions of our country. In the developed east and coastal areas, under the premise that land is becoming more and more valuable, rural land will become huge wealth sooner or later. Many farmers are unwilling to go to cities and give up these lands, so 'counter-city' appears. ". However, in the process of urbanization, my country's urban and rural development policies must be adapted to local conditions based on regional differences," said Sun Jiuwen, director of the Institute of Regional and Urban Economics at Renmin University of China.

Wei Houkai, deputy director of the Urban Development and Environmental Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, holds the same view, "The transfer of household registration in the east and west of my country is mainly a matter of economic interests. Urbanization is an unstoppable trend. Household registration The most critical aspect of the reform is to allow free movement of the population, but the overall trend is towards cities. Urban household registration itself contains welfare benefits, and correspondingly, collective land with rural household registration has generated substantial economic benefits for farmers through development and leasing. It is not difficult to understand the reluctance to move to the city. In fact, in recent years, the phenomenon of some civil servants owning land in rural areas and owning houses in cities is more common in developed eastern regions, and some civil servants have acquired quite a lot of property. There are ways to use the resources to exploit policy loopholes, but this problem will have to be solved sooner or later."

Civil servants are vying to become farmers

With increasing employment pressure, countless people are competing. Today, when taking the civil service examination, there is a strange incident in Yiwu City, Zhejiang Province, where some civil servants have moved their household registrations to rural areas and are willing to return to the villages to "become farmers". Not long ago, more than 200 civil servants with rural household registration in Yiwu City were required by the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Organization Department of the Municipal Party Committee and other departments to move out of their rural household registration, apply for non-agricultural transfer, and withdraw from the membership of village collective economic organizations. Why did Yiwu City “expel” these civil servants from their “village registration”? What's the "inside story" behind the strange incident of civil servants "striving to become farmers"?

“If your household registration is in rural areas, you can enjoy benefits such as village collective economic dividends, land acquisition compensation, resettlement housing, etc.” A local official said, “Don’t underestimate this rural household registration. The economic benefits are huge.

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In the eyes of local villagers, in addition to obtaining homestead land and building houses, rural residents can also receive land acquisition compensation fees and receive annual dividends from village collective asset rental, property and other operating income. Zhejiang Province Tong Rihui, director of the Economic and Management Department of the Department of Agriculture, said in an interview with Xinhua News Agency that the province has implemented the reform of the rural community joint-stock cooperative system, and the assets owned by the village collective have been verified and quantified into equity shares, which have been evenly distributed to the villagers. More than 100 rural areas have completed this reform, with per capita dividends of more than 500 yuan last year, and rural dividends in some economically developed areas are even higher.

Sun Jiuwen, director of the Institute of Regional and Urban Economics at Renmin University of China, said, " Civil servants who want to become farmers are tempted by land, which is not universal across the country. Mainly due to loopholes in policy management in some eastern provinces. The ultimate goal of household registration reform is to cancel urban and rural household registration. It is more feasible to first clean up some peripheral policies attached to household registration, and then focus on household registration reform. "

Why does the "amphibious" phenomenon of civil servants exist? Wei Houkai, deputy director of the Urban Development and Environmental Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believes that it is because some civil servants have a considerable amount of resources and are fully capable of operating it; at the same time, some Because some village cadres are interested in the power and resources in the hands of some civil servants, they also welcome civil servants to "go to the countryside". To truly eliminate these "profit-seekers", we also need to speed up the transformation of government functions and transfer the resources held by some power departments. Gradually cancelled.

Farmers are unwilling to transfer to citizens

In recent years, rural land has become more and more valuable, and farmers have gained more and more benefits. Some rural household registrations are even involved. "The living standards of farmers in the eastern region are improving rapidly and are not necessarily lower than those in cities. The key is farmers' homesteads and contracted land. As the land becomes more and more valuable, sooner or later these lands will become great wealth. Farmers closer to the city are particularly unwilling to let them go to the city and give up their land. "Sun Jiuwen analyzed that, in addition, the urbanization in eastern my country is already very high, and the living standards of farmers are very high. There are not many farmers who can transfer households. This is an important reason for the decline in the proportion of "agricultural to non-agriculture" in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

“In the process of rapid urbanization, farmers who own a lot of land do nothing but rent land, and some even earn hundreds of thousands a year. They are unwilling to transfer to urban hukou. This is a problem caused by geography. "Wei Houkai said, however, not all "counter-urbanization" is behind the temptation of huge profits. In the east, a considerable number of people have left big cities, which is related to the inability to pay the high cost of living. If the "counter-urbanization" phenomenon cannot be achieved Without effective control, the increase in urbanization rate is likely to stagnate in the next few years.

Some household registration managers pointed out that the main purpose of cities absorbing immigrants is to obtain cheap labor, and at the same time, they hope to bear as little burden on them as possible. Public services and social security. Those who move to the city have long been stuck at the bottom of society with low income standards, low quality of life, and low levels of security. Coupled with high housing prices and rising prices, even if the policy is completely liberalized, most of them will not be able to live in the city. It is also difficult for people who move into cities to realize their desire to settle down and take root.

In an interview, Mao Shoulong, a professor at the Institute of Public Policy and Security at the School of Public Policy and Management at Renmin University of China, revealed the reasons behind the process compensation policy for farmers. Worry. He believes that farmers will undoubtedly lose their land after moving to the city, and the land will be bought by the government at a low price and then sold at a high price. The transferred farmers will not have the option to return to the countryside again in the future, and farmers should be provided with institutional support. There is a certain right of two-way choice. And from a long-term perspective, this one-way flow of population from rural to urban areas is not conducive to the simultaneous development of urban and rural areas.

Should household registration be given first?

Should “household registration take precedence” in the process of urbanization? This view is controversial. Sun Jiuwen said, “The household registration reform in Chengdu and Chongqing can only be used as a reference for places with similar development levels and urban and rural structures as Chongqing. I advocate that we first clean up some of the peripheral policies surrounding household registration, and then focus on reforming household registration itself. Whether it is the Yangtze River Delta or the Pearl River Delta, the scale of urbanization in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing, etc. is already very large. It is reasonable to further develop the surrounding small and medium-sized cities as the development direction of the eastern coastal areas. ”

Associate professor Yang Lixiong of the School of Labor and Human Resources of Renmin University of China bluntly stated that replicating Chongqing’s experience in Beijing and Shanghai “will definitely not work” in the short term.

He believes that although Chongqing is one of the four municipalities directly under the Central Government, due to its location in the west, its transportation conditions and ability to attract immigrants are not even as good as those of medium-sized cities in the east. “Household registration reform should be carried out in underdeveloped areas first. Through household registration reform, it will help To eliminate poverty and achieve equality of rights between urban and rural areas."

Shi Hexing, a researcher at the Public Management Teaching and Research Department of the National Academy of Administration, said that nationwide, it is not suitable to popularize Chongqing’s approach. For areas with relatively large rural areas, it is still unlikely to completely break the urban-rural household registration gap. In addition, from the perspective of government burden, there may also be financial problems, and it will be difficult for public services to keep up.

Wei Houkai, deputy director of the Urban Development and Environmental Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that although there are some problems of one kind or another in the process of converting farmers to non-agricultural areas, China’s urbanization trend is unstoppable and there are many ways to urbanize. , the successful models in various places cannot be practiced across the country, and policies must be formulated according to local conditions. Some of the Western models are definitely not going to work on the Eastern seaboard. The most critical issue in the household registration reform is to allow the population to move freely. The household registration system itself contains many welfare benefits and everyone is willing to move to the city. However, collective land with rural household registration in developed areas can be developed and generate substantial economic benefits. It is understandable that farmers are reluctant to transfer their household registration.

“The reform of the household registration system to narrow the gap between urban and rural areas and accelerate the process of urbanization must be promoted.” Zhou Tianyong, deputy director of the Research Office of the Central Party School of the Communist Party of China, told reporters, “When a large number of farmers flock to After entering the city, city managers should be prepared to provide housing and rich public service resources to these transferred farmers. They must be able to make various urban resources and benefits equally available to every citizen. This is The proper meaning of household registration reform. ”

In the pilot household registration reforms in many places, the phenomenon of “counter-urbanization” has emerged. Some migrant workers are unwilling to obtain urban household registration, and even many originally from the city have experienced the phenomenon of “counter-urbanization”. People with household registration hope to change to rural household registration in order to get land. In fact, this is not a new topic. The phenomenon of counter-urbanization has existed since the marketization of state-owned land use rights in the late 1980s.