| Abstract | The construction of the national legal system, which is a
vital step in Chinese socialist development, has been promoted
by the rapid economic development since 1 978. As one part
forming this main stream, urban planning legislation which is
especially spurred by the rapid pace of urbanization, became
one of the most important aspects in the government agenda. At
the origin of this stream, this study attempts to assess the
legislative base of urban planning, stressing on issues of
urban development, plan making, plan implementation and the
existing rules and regulations.
Without a well established legal planning system, there
have been problems such as uncontrolled development, less
effective urban planning than what it was supposed to be in
the management of urban development in the socialist context,
and absence of rules and regulations. These inter- dependent
problems are aggravated by the ideological influence of the
feudal tradition and the current backwardness of the evolving
socialist system. Recognizing the broad concern of this study,
a " T" shaped research operation which included a nation- wide
exploration and detailed digout in three case study cities was
formulated and followed. Data collected and processed are from
three major sources, i .e . literature search, document analysis
and interviews.
The study finds that it was neglected to set up strict
rules and regulations in the past planning practice, and urban
planning legislation still is in its primary stage. Measures
used in administrative affairs were policies and principles
rather than legalized rules and regulations. Analyses show
that the specific Chinese road of development will evolve a
Chinese featured two - layer framework of planning regulations.
Construction of this framework is rooted on the reform of the
present political, social, economic system and is a long-range
undertaking. |