*3.2. Urban-Biased Urbanization Widens the Gap Between Urban and Rural Development*

Since reform and opening-up, with the rapid development of urbanization, the gap between urban and rural areas has widened, and the imbalance between rural and urban development has become prominent (Figure 3). The per capita disposable income of urban residents increased from CNY 343.4 in 1978 to CNY 36,396.2 in 2017, while that of rural residents increased from CNY 133.6 to 13,432.4 during the same period. The per capita disposable income of urban and rural residents has increased significantly, but there is still a large gap. The per capita disposable income ratio of urban residents and rural residents fluctuates constantly. The average value of the ratio of disposable income from 1978 to 2017 was 2.81, while the minimum value was 1.86, and the maximum value was 3.14.

**Figure 3.** Per capita income gap between urban and rural residents in China (1978–2017). Note: Per capita disposable income is based on current prices. Source: China Statistical Yearbook 1979–2018.

With the increasing inequality between urban and rural areas, the coordinated development of urban and rural areas has become a research hotspot [5,70–73]. The driving forces of population migration in urban and rural areas mainly include the income gap between urban and rural areas, a surplus agricultural labor force, the development of township enterprises, the disintegration of state-owned enterprises and the emergence of private enterprises [74–76]. A series of urban-biased policies in the process of urbanization make cities gather a lot of resources in a short time, but lead to the decline of rural areas [1,5,77] and pose a serious challenge to the overall planning of urban and rural areas. The urban-biased urbanization has led to the expansion of the gap between urban and rural development [78]. For example, the per capita consumption level of urban residents is higher than that of rural residents. In 2017, the per capita consumption expenditure of urban residents was CNY 24,445, while that of rural residents was CNY 10,954.5, with the former being 2.2 times the latter. The total investment in urban fixed assets was CNY 63,168.4 billion, and that in rural households was CNY 955.44 billion, in 2017, accounting for 98.5% and 1.5% of the total investment in social fixed assets, respectively. There is also a gap in the quantity and level of basic public service supply between urban and rural areas; for example, in 2017, the number of health technicians and the number of beds in medical and health institutions per thousand population in urban areas were 10.87 and 8.75, respectively. By comparison, the numbers of health technicians and beds per thousand population in rural areas were 4.28 and 4.19, respectively. The numbers of health technicians and beds in urban areas were 2.54 and 2.01 times those in rural areas, respectively, and that indicates that high-quality medical and educational resources are mostly concentrated in urban areas.
