1 Introduction
China’s urbanization process represents the largest and most complex urban transformation in human history. Over the past decades, urban science has played a critical role as both a theoretical foundation and a methodological toolkit, supporting urban planning, construction, and governance. As China enters a new stage of high-quality urbanization, however, the mission of urban science must be fundamentally reoriented. Rather than focusing on expansion and scale, urban science must increasingly respond to concrete, emerging challenges faced by cities and their residents. In the context of Chinese modernization, urban science is undergoing a profound shift in its research agenda and value orientation. This paper outlines seven key strategic transitions that define the new direction of urban science in China and offer broader insights for global urban studies.
2 From Directing Urban Planning and Construction Toward Guiding Urban Stock Renewal
After four decades of rapid urban growth, most Chinese cities have entered a stage dominated by existing urban stock rather than new construction. While remarkable achievements have been made, long-term issues have accumulated, particularly in residential quality, public facilities, and neighborhood environments. Public expectations have shifted from simply “having housing” to “living well.”
In response, the Chinese government has proposed the development of “good housing, good neighborhoods, good communities, and good urban districts,” emphasizing quality-oriented urban renewal. This transition requires urban science to move beyond planning for expansion and instead focus on the renewal of existing urban areas. A defining feature of this new approach is the emphasis on residents as active participants. Urban renewal should increasingly be driven by community initiative, supported by policy incentives and market-based mechanisms. This reflects the principle that “cities are built by the people and for the people,” recognizing citizens as the central agents of urban transformation rather than passive beneficiaries.
3 From Economic Growth to the Improvement of the Human Living Environment
More than 2000 years ago, the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle noted in Politics, “People come to cities for life, and they stay in cities for a better life.” This insight captures a fundamental shift in urban development priorities. As material needs are increasingly met, the quality of the human living environment has become a core concern.
The construction of a “Beautiful China” has emerged as a national strategic objective, with cities representing both the primary challenge and the greatest potential for improvement. Unlike rural areas, which often benefit from natural ecological advantages, cities concentrate human activity and environmental pressures, making livability a central issue.
Urban science must therefore play a leading role in enhancing urban landscapes, architectural quality, public spaces, and community services. The goal is not merely ecological restoration, but the creation of urban environments that support physical health, psychological well-being, and social cohesion. In this new phase, urban development quality, rather than speed or scale, becomes the primary measure of success.
4 From Urban Scale Development to Safety, Resilience, and Low-Carbon Development
Climate change has significantly increased the vulnerability of cities worldwide. Extreme weather events once considered rare are becoming increasingly frequent, challenging traditional approaches to urban infrastructure based on high standards and passive defense.
Recognizing this reality, China has elevated resilience to a core urban development objective, emphasizing the construction of livable, resilient, and smart cities. Urban resilience is now understood as a foundational requirement for urban safety, encompassing not only climate risks but also public health emergencies and complex systemic shocks.
At the same time, cities are central to climate mitigation. According to United Nations data, approximately 75 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions are linked to urban activities. Achieving green and low-carbon urban development is therefore essential to addressing climate change.
Urban science must integrate resilience and sustainability into the design of urban systems, particularly at the community level. Flexible infrastructure, multifunctional public spaces, and localized emergency capacity are critical components of resilient cities that are prepared for an uncertain future.
5 From Industrial-Era Urbanism to Innovation Ecosystem Building
The essence of urban development lies in innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship. Cities are the primary incubators of scientific and technological advancement, and every major city should function as an innovation hub within its broader region.
Innovation can be driven through centralized national efforts or through decentralized, ecosystem-based approaches. For cities, the latter is particularly important. Urban innovation ecosystems mobilize diverse parties—universities, enterprises, research institutions, and individuals—through bottom-up interactions and collaboration.
International experience highlights the importance of education and research infrastructure, dynamic private enterprises, an innovation-oriented population, and a supportive institutional environment. In China, major urban clusters such as the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area occupy less than 13 percent of national land area while generating more than 65 percent of invention patents and over 70 percent of technology market transactions. Urban science must therefore shift from an industrial logic of land development toward fostering inclusive, interconnected, and adaptive innovation ecosystems.
6 From Promoting Urban Expansion to Rationally Managing Urban Shrinkage
Demographic aging and population decline are becoming structural trends rather than temporary phenomena. While some cities continue to grow, others are experiencing population loss, creating new governance challenges.
In many cases, public expenditure continues to expand despite declining populations, resulting in inefficient infrastructure investment and fiscal pressure. Urban science must address how cities can maintain effective governance, adequate public services, and livable environments with limited resources.
Managing urban shrinkage requires a shift from growth-oriented thinking to efficiency-oriented planning. The central challenge is how to allocate resources rationally, preserve ecological space, and improve quality of life under conditions of demographic contraction. This represents a new and underexplored frontier for urban research in China and beyond.
7 From Single-City Focus to Integrated Urban-Rural and Regional Development
Urban and rural areas should not be viewed as opposing systems. As early as the nineteenth century, Ebenezer Howard’s Garden City concept sought to integrate the advantages of both. Differentiation, rather than uniformity, enables meaningful integration and balanced development. Cities depend on rural areas for food, ecological services, and cultural continuity, while rural regions benefit from urban markets, technology, and public services. Beyond the urban–rural relationship, city clusters and metropolitan areas have become key spatial units of development.
Through integrated transportation networks, coordinated industrial specialization, and shared cultural identity, major urban agglomerations have reshaped regional competitiveness. Urban science must expand its analytical scale, moving beyond individual cities to examine collaborative development across urban–rural systems and regional networks.
8 From Traditional Urban Studies to Addressing the New Development in the AI Era
The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence marks the arrival of a fundamentally new technological era. AI is not merely a tool but an evolving technological ecosystem capable of autonomous learning, coordination, and adaptation.
This transformation has profound implications for cities. Firstly, the subjects of urban life are expanding beyond humans to include intelligent agents with decision-making capabilities. Urban planning must consider how humans and intelligent systems coexist and collaborate. Secondly, AI is reshaping urban production logic, shifting economic activity toward idea generation, cognitive labor, and digital creativity. Thirdly, data and algorithms have emerged as critical production factors, joining land, capital, and labor as drivers of urban development.
Finally, AI is transforming the nature of urban products and services. From healthcare and eldercare to mobility and companionship, intelligent systems are reshaping daily life and urban space. These changes pose new questions for urban planning, governance, and public service provision, areas that urban science has yet to systematically address.
9 Conclusions
In the new stage of Chinese modernization, urban science must undergo a comprehensive transformation. By focusing on stock-based renewal, livability, resilience, innovation ecosystems, demographic change, integrated regional development, and the implications of artificial intelligence, urban science can better respond to the evolving needs of cities and their residents.
These seven strategic shifts represent not only a response to China’s unique urban trajectory, but also a contribution to global urban thought. Ultimately, the purpose of urban science is to support cities that are safer,more inclusive, more innovative, and more humane, namely, cities that enable people to live not only longer, but better lives.
The Author(s) 2026. This article is published by Higher Education Press.
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