This paper analyzes Panzhihua construction on ‘the Third Front’ in the Chinese socialist era during the 1960s and 70s; the background, process, features, shortcomings and lessons are reviewed. Panzhihua was a unique achievement of urbanization in ...
This paper analyzes Panzhihua construction on ‘the Third Front’ in the Chinese socialist era during the 1960s and 70s; the background, process, features, shortcomings and lessons are reviewed. Panzhihua was a unique achievement of urbanization in the Chinese socialist era. However, it was not sustainable or reproducible because of the failure to improve citizen’s lives, the collapse of the centrally-planned economy, and the prevalence of capitalism throughout the world. Nevertheless, Panzhihua is a good subject of research in order to understand the past, present and future of urbanization in the pre-socialist bloc and developing countries. Moreover, it provides a useful lesson for resource-poor developing countries that attempt to achieve rapid urbanization by focusing scare resources on building cities.