As more and more of China's "floating population" return from their city jobs to their farms, officials brace for backlash from the recently unemployed.
"Fast-rising unemployment has led to an unusual series of strikes and protests. Normally cautious government officials have offered quick concessions and talk openly of their worries about social unrest. Laid-off factory workers in Dongguan overturned patrol cars and clashed with police last Tuesday, and hundreds of taxis parked in front of a government office in nearby Chaozhou over the weekend, one of a series of driver protests.
On Wednesday, workers let go from a liquor factory in northern China mounted a protest in Beijing, at the parent company's headquarters. In the latest sign of economic stress, China's currency fell Monday by its single largest margin on record against the dollar, on expectations the central bank might devalue it to prop up sagging growth.
As the government tries to calm tensions in the cities, it also fears that newly unemployed migrants returning home could upend the already-strained social system in the countryside."
FULL STORY: China Fears Restive Migrants As Jobs Disappear in Cities
Is the Urban-Suburban Divide Destined to Disappear?
In a new book, Hans Westlund and Tigran Haas argue that the global knowledge economy is radically reshaping urban development. Eventually, they say, it'll render meaningless our present notions of "urban," "suburban," and "rural."
China's Megacities May Soon Rely on Urban Farming
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Healing Through Parks: Altadena’s Path to Recovery After the Eaton Fire
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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.
City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research