Transformation path of China’s cities in industrial decline: The case of Changchun

Since the mid-20th century, many industrial cities have fallen into decline. Traditional industrial areas in many developed countries, such as the Great Lakes region in the northeastern United States, the Ruhr area in Germany, Birmingham and Manchester in the UK, and the Ural industrial zone in Russia, experience industrial decline, weak economic growth and urban decay as a manifestation of regional decline - a “reverse development phenomenon”. Today, economic, social, environmental and other factors made large-scale cross-regional migration almost a social norm, while regions with population outflow inevitably fall into decline due to labor shortage and brain drain. The primary cause of industrial city decline is the unbalanced industrial structure which determined production, resource and capital dependence, reducing flexibility and sustainability of the urban economy. Once an economic crisis affects the urban pillar industry, a vicious cycle of economic weakness and population loss arises and ultimately leads the city into a development trap: economic shocks caused by industrial structure imbalance, demographic shocks from massive loss of labor force, political shocks from urban growth and spatial shocks from suburbanization have led to qualitative changes in the urban spatial pattern, leading to urban decline. The development crisis of industrial cities triggers the collapse of the urban system, resulting in the loss of urban development elements and a decline. China is currently in a transition from industrialization to post-industrialization, and industrial cities face the risk of urban decline. As the capital of the Jilin Province, Changchun is a famous center of heavy industry, and since the mid-20th century the city has faced many development difficulties due to such factors as industrial crisis, population loss and environmental degradation. The decline of Changchun is explained in the article by multiple reasons, including the imbalance of industrial structure, the degradation of urban space and the decline of urban culture. Therefore, Changchun’s revival should also take place in three dimensions: economy, space and culture. The economic dimension implies development of Industry 4.0 and diversified urban economy, networking, informatization and digitalization, optimization of the industrial structure with the focus on service industry and innovation (new industries, new products, new technologies, new business forms and new models of the urban economy) in order to increase the economic resilience of the city and overcome potential economic risks. The spatial dimension implies the regional development thinking to create a new metropolitan area by breaking the traditional urban-rural opposition - Changchun as both a hub city for transportation, economy, scientific and technological innovation in the Jilin Province and even Northeast China and a model and core of the rural revitalization in the Jilin Province’s “hinterland”. The cultural dimension implies the focus on changing the city’s image and spirit by using its “soft power” - cultural influence: on the one hand, historical heritage of Changchun as a city with a long history; on the other hand, its potential of keeping up with the times and innovation.