The Shang Dynasty and the Confucian Dynasty have greatly influenced China’s modern Urbanization today and that is reflected in china’s great inter-state relations (Swaine,1) and the fact that they are thriving in big cities and no longer in the small countryside (Minter,1). In the past (Shang and Confucian Dynasty) everyone lived in small villages in rural areas because their was no other place to live, there were no big cities. Even though there were no big cities or places that we consider specifically modern, China flourished in the times of the Shang Dynasty. Bronze weapons were created and used in war and there was the invention of writing and language. Although the progress China making today in inventions and new projects in the world aren’t as drastic as coming up with a new language or war weapons, China is doing things to fix our planet and create a greener place to live (Seto, 1).
According to Adam Minter on Bloomberg View, in the 1950’s more than 80% of the population was still rural, but that changed in the 1970’s when the urbanization process began. People started moving from old villages to new cities, and others starting creating factories and large businesses (Minter,1). There’s also a few aspects of legalism and taoism in these facts. When people started moving to the bigger cities, rules were loosened regarding where people can live. This reflects Taoism. But people also started to get greedy, and big business owners wanted to expand, pushing people out of the old villages to build new businesses, this reflects legalism because of the use of force from the “higher up rich people” to get what they want (Minter, 1). Also reflecting Confucianism, China has great inter-state relations inside the country. Being social with other humans was very important to Confucius in his times as leader.
So, China has made a lot of progress in the past with Urbanizing the big cities and moving out of the rural towns. But, what are the plans for the future? Apparently local governments are planning on developing more urban towns and housing within the next few years. They’ll have the capacity to house 3.4 billion people and that’s roughly half of humanity (Minter,1) So China now has plans for the future with is very much reflective of Confucius. Unlike Lao Tzu (legalism), Confucius did not just go with the flow, he (most likely) planned ahead and was smart with the planning he did making sure that whatever he planned on doing would make a positive influence on society. And, people are also realizing the threats that urbanization is making on the environment (Seto, 1). All the buildings and businesses were taking a toll on the environment and its health, so people might begin to make a change.
