Department of Geography and Planning

Ph.D. Geography, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1971            
M.A. Geography, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, 1968
B.A. Foreign Languages and Literature, National Taiwan University, 1960 

Positions Held

2000-Present         Independent Scholar

       University of Hong Kong     

Jan'02-May'02       Visiting Professor, Department of Geography

       The University of Akron

2000-Present          Professor Emeritus of Geography  
1981-2000             Professor of Geography
1979-1987             Director, Center for International Program
1976-1981             Associate Professor of Geography
1971-1976             Assistant Professor of Geography

        Adjunct professorship

1988 Nanjing University, China
2000 College of Natural Resources and Environment, Beijing Normal University
2004 Henan College of Finance and Economics, Zhengzhou, Henan, China

Research Interest

1. Changing political economy, urbanization and urban-rural interaction in China.
2. China’s population dynamics, especially the incipient heterogenization of the urban population caused by migration.
3. The impact of economic reforms on rural industrialization and occupational transformation.
   China’s historical urbanism, focusing on the relationship between economic development and urban growth during the pre-modern era.
4. The cultural geography of the power of place, with particular reference to the relationship between place identity, people’s attachment to their native place, and the impact of place-affinity on migration and the formation of new communities.
5.  The formation, structure and nature of the Chinese diaspora.

Publications

          Books

2004, Restructuring the Chinese City: Changing Space, Society and Economy. Forthcoming. London and New York: Routledge. Second editor: Fulong Wu.

2003, Chinese Diaspora: Space, Place, Mobility and Identity,  Boulder, CO: Roman &  Littlefield Publishers. Forthcoming. I conceived and organized the volume and am the senior editor.  Co-editor: Carolyn L. Cartier.

1989, Urbanization in Asia: Spatial Dimensions and Policy Issues,  Honolulu:   University of Hawaii Press.  Co-editors: Frank Costa, Ashok Dutt and Allen Noble.

1988, Asian Urbanization: Problems and Processes, Stuttgart, West Germany: Gebruder Borntraeger.  Co-editors: Frank Costa, Ashok Dutt and Allen Noble.

1983,  China: The Geography of Development and Modernization, Washington, D.C.: V. H. Winston & Sons. Co-author: Clifton Pannell.

1981, Urban Development in Modern China, Boulder: Westview Press. Co-editor:  Edward W. Hanten.

1981,   The Environment: Chinese and American Views, N.Y.: Methuen. Co-editor: Allen G. Noble.

1980, Cities and City Planning in the People’s Republic of China: An Annotated Bibliography, HUD USER Bibliography Series, Office of International Affairs, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.  Washington, D. C.: Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office. 

1971, Commercial Development and Urban Change in Sung China (960-1279), Michigan Geographical Publication, No. 6, Department of Geography, University of Michigan, 1971.  Second printing, 1973.  Translated into Chinese by Decheng Ma as Songdai de shangye yu chengshi and published by The University Press of the University of Chinese Culture, Taipei, Taiwan, 1985. 

       Selected Articles  (all peer-reviewed) 

2004, “China’s Changing Urban Administrative System: Spatial Restructuring and Local Economic Development,” forthcoming in Political Geography.

2004, “Restructuring the Chinese City: Diverse Processes and Reconstituted Spaces,” forthcoming in Laurence J. C. Ma and Fulong Wu, eds., Restructuring the Chinese City: Changing Society, Economy and Space. London and New York:  Routledge. Second author: Fulong Wu. 

2004, “The Chinese City in Transition: Towards Theorizing China’s Urban Restructuring,” forthcoming in Laurence J. C. Ma and Fulong Wu, eds., Restructuring the Chinese City: Changing Society, Economy and Space. London and New York:  Routledge. First author: Fulong Wu.

2003,  “Transforming China’s Globalizing Cities,” forthcoming in Habitat International. First author: Fulong Wu.

2004, “Jubian zhizhong de Zhongguo chengshi—fang Meiguo xuezhe Zhongguo chengshi wenti zhuanjia Ma Runchao jiaoshou (Great Changes in Chinese Cities—An Interview with American scholar and Chinese urban expert Professor Laurence J. C. Ma),” based on the interview transcript written by Xiao Tang and Yinping Li, editors of Chengshi guanli (Urban Management), a professional journal published in Shanghai, No. 2, 2004, pp. 43-46.

2004   “Economic Reforms, Urban Spatial Restructuring and Planning in China,” Progress in Planning 61: 237-260.

2003, "Geography of China," in American Geography in the 21^st Century, edited by Gary L. Gaile and Cort J. Willmott, New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 668-678.  Other authors: Cindy Fan, Clifton Pannell and K. C. Tan.

2002.   “Urban Transformation in China, 1949-2000: A Review and Research Agenda,” Environment and Planning A (forcoming).

2002,  “China’s Urbanization Levels: Reconstructing a Baseline from the Fifth Population Census,” The China Quarterly (forthcoming; first author: Yixing Zhou).

2002,  “Space, Place and Transnationalism in the Chinese Diaspora,” Chapter 1, The Chinese Diaspora: Space, Place, Mobility and Identity,  edited by Laurence J. C. Ma and Carolyn Cartier. Boulder, CO: Roman & Littlefield Publishers.  Forthcoming.

2002,  "Status of Research on the Geography of China," forthcoming in American Geography in the 21^st Century, edited by Gary L. Gaile and Cort J. Willmott, New York: Oxford University Press for the Association of American Geographers, 2002. This volume, endorsed by the Association of American Geographers, reviews the status of research in American geography.  Other authors: Cindy Fan, Clifton Pannell and K. C. Tan.

2002,  “Economic Transition at the Local Level: Diverse Forms of Town Development in China,” Eurasian Geography and Economics, Vol. 43, No. 2, pp. 79-103.

2000, “Economic Restructuring and Suburbanization in China," Urban Geography, Vol. 21, No. 3, April-May, pp. 205-236.  First author: Yixing Zhou.

1999,  “Humanism, the Rise of Postmodernism and the Development of New Regional Geography in the West," Dili xuebao (Acta Geographica Sinica), Vol. 54, No. 4, pp. 365-372.  (In Chinese).

1999,  “Urbanization from Below in China: Its Development and Mechanisms," Dili xuebao (Acta Geographica Sinica), Vol. 54, No. 2, pp. 106-115.  First author: Gonghao Cui.  (In Chinese).

1998, "Native Place, Migration and the Emergence of Peasant Enclaves in Beijing," China Quarterly, No. 155, September, pp.546-581.  Second author: Biao Xiang.

1997, “Determinants of State Investment in China, 1953-1990,” Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Vol. 88, No. 3, pp. 211-225. Second author:  Yehua Wei. 

1997, “Urban Transition and Interstate Relations in a Dynamic Post-Soviet Borderland: The Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China,” Post-Soviet Geography and Economics, Vol. 38, No. 4, April, pp. 206-229.  First author: Clifton W. Pannell.

1996    “The Spatial Patterns of Interprovincial Rural-to-Urban Migration in China, 1982-1987,” Chinese Environment and Development, Vol. 7, Nos. 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 1996, pp. 73-102.

1996, “Changing Patterns of Spatial Inequality in China, 1952-1990,” Third World Planning Review, Vol. 18, No. 2, May, pp. 177-191.  First author: Yehua Wei.

1995, "Shehui zhuyi zhiduxia de renkou qianyi: yi zhongguo dalu weili ( Socialist Migration:   The Case of Mainland China)," Proceedings of the International Conference on the  Population of Mainland China and Taiwan, Taipei, Taiwan, Population Research Center, National Taiwan University, 1995, pp. 111-126.  (In Chinese).

1994, "Urbanization from Below: The Growth of Towns in Jiangsu Province," Urban Studies, Vol. 31, No. 10, pp. 1625-1645.  Second author: Ming Fan.

1994    "The Role of Towns in Chinese Regional Development: The Case of Guangdong Province," International Regional Science Review, Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 75-97.  First author: George C. S. Lin. 

1994, “Woguo jiben jianshe touci quyu fenbu de bianhua ( Regional Changes of Capital Construction Investment in China),” Dili Kexue (Geographical Science) (China), Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 22-29. First author: Yehua Wei.  (In Chinese).  

1993, "Development of Towns in China: A Case Study of Guangdong Province," Population and Development Review, Vol. 19, No. 3, September, pp. 583-606. Second author: Chusheng Lin.

1987,  "Administrative Changes and Urban Population in China," Annals, Association of American Geographers, Vol. 77, No. 3, pp. 373-395.  Second author: Gonghao Cui.

1986, "Chinese Cities: A Research Agenda," Urban Geography, Vol. 7, No. 4, pp. 279-290.  Second author: Allen G. Noble.

1984,  "Evolution of Urban Collective Enterprises in China," China Quarterly, No. 104, pp. 614-640.  First author: Jianzhong Tang.

1983, “Interbasin Water Transfer in China,” The Geographical Review, vol. 73, No. 3, July, pp. 253-270. First author: Changming Liu

1983, “Preliminary Results of the 1982 Census in China,” The Geographical Review, Vol. 73, No. 2, April, pp. 198-210.

1979, "The Chinese Approach to City Planning: Policy, Administration, and Action," Asian Survey, Vol. 19, No. 9, September, pp. 838-855.

1976,  "Anti-Urbanism in China," Proceeding, Association of American Geographers, Vol. 8, pp. 114-118. Also reprinted in Focus, Vol. 27, No. 4, September-October 1976, pp. 13-16.

          Book Reviews

About 50 book reviews in professional journals in the areas of geography, urban studies and China. Details available upon request.

Other Recent Professional Activities

1. Project evaluator, United Nations Development Programme.  Evaluated UNDP's programs in China on local leadership training and town development, December 1997 to January 1998, October-November, 2000.
2. Conceived and directed a multi-institutional U.S.-China research project with a $150,000 grant from The Henry Luce Foundation of New York on the development of towns in China, 1996-1998.
3. Received Outstanding Researcher Award from the Alumni Association of the University of Akron, June 1999.
4. Honored by colleagues and former students for contribution to the field of the geography of China at the annual meeting of the Association of Geographers, February 28-March 2, 2001, New York.  Six panel sessions carrying my name were organized for the occasion.
5. Project consultant, United Nations Development Programme, second phase of a project on town development in China, August-September, 2001, Beijing.
6. Invited seminar speaker on the Chinese diaspora, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong Baptist University, April and May 2002.
7. Keynote speaker, Cross-Strait Conference on “New” Economic Geography, Beijing, September 8, 2003. Topic: “Changes in mainstream economic geography and the directions of future research by economic geographers across the Taiwan Strait.”
8. Interviewed by the editors of Chengshi guanli (Urban Management) on China’s urban development. December 27, 2003, Shanghai. Transcript to be published by the journal.
9. Received an Outstanding Service Award from the China Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers, March 18, 2004, Philadelphia.

Membership in Professional Societies

1. National Committee on United States-China Relations
2. Association of American Geographers
3. American Geographical Society
4. Chinese Geographical Society
5. Association for Asian Studies 
   

Member, Editorial Boards of Professional Journals

1. The China Geographer, 1981-85
2. The East Lakes Geographer, 1985-199
3. Chinese Environment and Development, 1988-97
4. Third World Planning Review, 1991-present
5. China Information, 1993-present
6. Dili xuebao (Acta Geographica Sinica, Beijing), 1999-present
7. Member, Board of Directors, Urban China Research Network, 1999-present
8. Associate Editor, Eurasian Geography and Economics, 2001-present
9. Journal of Geographical Science (Taipei), 2001-present
10. Journal of Geographical Sciences (Beijing), 2001-present
11. Annals of the Association of American Geographyers, 2004--.

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