中国的城镇化议题近日成为议论关注的焦点一点也不奇怪，因为中国的城镇化将成为未来中国数十年经济保持高速发展的新的驱动力，以至欧盟也积极和中国建立密切的城镇化伙伴关系，借以推动中国的城镇化进程。

 

      但是，中国在城镇化进程中面临者潜在的巨大陷阱，不能不引起我们的重视。尤其在拉美国家，由于过快的城镇化造成了社会动乱、房价上涨、生活用品价格飙飞、食品供应短缺、失业率高、犯罪率高、教育、医疗保障行业困难重重。这个城镇化的陷阱拉了许多国家发展的后腿。
 

      其实，最重要的问题在于在城镇化过程中大量自然资源的浪费，这些资源的不可再生性使得城镇化的发展受到严重制约。
 

      我们的城镇化目的不仅仅是给那些“被动”搬迁到城市中的农民一个户口，而是要给予他们工作，给予他们受到教育和医疗保障的合法性，平等性以及尊严（并不是恩赐给他们的平等待遇）等。否则，他们即使搬到城市中，也会长期感到受压抑，受排斥，这将不利于社会的稳定。
 

      城镇化是中国改革的重中之重，是实现中国梦的关键内容。因为城镇化可以让民众分享改革的红利，并可以有效缩小贫富差别。然而要实现这个目标，必须科学的对待处置和城镇化有关的问题。因为从历史发展观来看，一个国家要富强，城镇化是一个绕不过去的坎儿，是必须面对的挑战。
 

      中国仍然是一个发展中国家，仍然有庞大的人口数量级居住在农村，他们的生活非常贫苦，这是个不争的事实。尽管今天的中国改革开放已经有35年，在经济领域也取得了举世瞻目的成就，但是美不掩丑，中国农村依然落后。
 

      从国际以往的成功经验来看，城镇化的成功取决于就业化。让人人有工作，成为政府部门最紧迫的任务。
 

      在过去的100多年中，西方国家利用工业化吸纳了千万个劳动力，这些劳动力成为城市的主要居民。可以说，工业化造就了城镇化，而城镇化则支撑了工业化的需要，这两者是一条线上的蚂蚱。如何平衡这两个发展要素的关系成为了政府部门的首要任务。那时只要处理好这两者的关系，就能够成为发达国家，如美国和欧洲诸国。
 

      但是如今现实有所不同，时代变了。传统的工业由于严格的环境要求，纷纷被搬离城市，又回到农村，带走了许多劳动力和相关的服务业。为了解决这些新的问题，我们要改变观念，特别是考虑“依厂建镇，以业建城”的城镇化思路，在现有的城市中开放和扩大公共服务行业的领域，用于增加就业人口。因为，只有巨大的劳动力市场的存在才可能支撑城镇化进程。

      城镇化的成功与否将取决于所有参与者满意与否，更要看城镇化后的教育和社会公德、社会稳定、财富分配是否得到法律的保护。
 

      我们在推进城镇化的同时必须高度警惕那些潜在的陷阱。我们有信心实现城镇化的宏伟目标，并避免在某些国家出现过的城镇化陷阱。（来源：环球时报英文版2013年11月27日16版/ 作者刘志勤为中国人民大学重阳金融研究院高级研究员）

 

Vigilance required to avoid dangerous pitfalls of Chinese urbanization

 

      China`s urbanization process has been a frequent topic of media headlines, particularly given the fact it will be the new driving force for economic development in China for decades to come. The EU in particular has partnered with China to help promote and speed up this process.

 

      But there are pitfalls hidden in the urbanization process that China must watch out for.

 

      In Latin American countries, rapid urbanization has resulted in severe social unrest. Urbanization can cause house prices and living costs to rise, supplies of certain fresh goods to dwindle, unemployment to increase, and increases in crime as well as issues with things like education and the sanitation of cities.

 

      These traps have made some countries develop more slowly.

 

      The most significant traps relate to waste and natural resources, as unrecyclable waste can pile up and natural resources are not used effectively. The exhaustion of resources can become a tragedy that cripples the urbanization of a country.

 

      Ensuring a stable urbanization process goes well beyond merely providing household registration, or hukou, to every migrant worker. Farmers should not passively be transferred into cities, otherwise they will feel depressed for a very long time, even if they have been given hukou, because they need a legal, equal status as well as dignity.

 

      Urbanization is a key part of China`s reforms, and will play a decisive role in the realization of the Chinese dream. Through urbanization, the government wants to ensure farmers share in the dividends of reform, and is trying to narrow the wealth gap.

 

      But in order to do this, the urbanization policy must be placed in context and viewed scientifically. From a historical perspective, urbanization is a process that cannot be avoided for countries that wish to become developed.

 

      China is still a developing country with a significant rural population which lives under poor conditions. This remains a stern reality despite the fact that China has achieved significant success in economic fields since the reform and opening-up policy was first implemented 35 years ago.

 

      For urbanization to succeed, there must be enough jobs for the farmers entering the cities. Employment is a more pressing issue than housing.

 

      Over the past 100 years, Western countries undertook the process of urbanization along with industrialization which created millions of jobs for the people who wanted to settle down. Industrialization created urbanization, and urbanization supported industrialization as part of a loop.

 

      Balancing these two factors became a key issue for most of the governments in the West. Those that succeeded became modern societies like the US and Europe.

 

      However, we have to be realistic about today`s world. Times have changed: Heavy industries have been moved outside of cities, with labor transferred to rural areas. Traditional industrialization has been impeded by the tougher environmental requirements, which in turn makes it more difficult to create jobs.

 

      In order to solve this problem, we should also try to create new forms of employment by creating extended public services enterprises that may hire thousands of workers. The basic strategy is simple: A huge amount of labor is needed to drive and maintain the urbanization process.

 

      The success of urbanization can be viewed through the satisfaction of participants as well as the education level and morality of the public.

 

      They will need to safeguard and maintain the stability, wealth, and health of the society under the law.

 

      We have to do our utmost to accelerate the process of urbanization, and always be vigilant about potential pitfalls.

 

      We have confidence that we will realize our goal and avoid the traps of urbanization that have occurred in some other countries.

 

      The author is a senior fellow of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China.