High-tech Zones (Science & Technology Parks) and China's Urbanization

Witnessed by the last two decades, high-tech zones (science & technology parks) have played a considerably crucial role in pushing China's economy boom. The rapid rise of high-tech zones has not only brought the emerging of a number of globally-competitive high-tech industries and MNCs, but accumulated tens of thousands of innovative SMEs, which have affected China's economy in an unprecedented level. While pushing China's new industrialization process, high-tech zones are providing a tremendous driving force to China's urbanization at the same time. On one hand, high-tech zones have created job opportunities, populated new areas and new demands in R&D, logistics and business facilities, which all resulted in a steady improvement of urban services and functions. On the other hand, urbanization has provided a vast market for high-tech zones, which enabled the new technologies being widely used in this process. This paper reviews how High-tech zone have promoted the converging development of industrialization and urbanization of the host cities and looks into the future of these high-end new urban areas with reinforced functions of R&D, incubation, industries and modern services.