Introduction -- Urban bias : a faustian bargain -- Cities, redistribution, and regime survival -- China's loophole to the faustian bargain of urban bias -- The fiscal shift : migration, instability, & redistribution -- Return to sender : hukou, stimulus, & the great recession -- Under pressure : urban bias and external forces -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Appendix
Summary
China's management of urbanization is an under-appreciated factor in the regime's longevity. The Chinese Communist Party fears ""Latin Americanization""--The emergence of highly unequal megacities with their attendant slums and social unrest. Such cities threaten the survival of nondemocratic regimes. To combat the threat, many regimes, including China's, favor cities in policymaking. Cities and Stability shows this ""urban bias"" to be a Faustian Bargain: cities may be stabilized for a time, but the massive in-migration from the countryside that results can generate the conditions for polit
