Strategic resilience assessment (STRESS) report: Sichuan Province, China

In the past decade, China’s urbanization has been characterized by rapid economic and population growth. Of the total population, 70 to 75% will live in urban areas by 2050, contributing to 90% of the national economy.1 The scale and pace of urbanization in China is unprecedented and changing the socio-economic landscape in both urban and rural areas. Added to this rapid pace and scale of urbanization, external factors such as natural disasters, climate stressors and economic transition create major imbalances to the urban transition process and contribute to negative consequences for population groups that are already disadvantaged in the urbanization process. The purpose of this research is to guide Mercy Corps and other development practitioners to design resiliencefocused strategies that can support programs within the emerging context of China’s rapid urbanization. The research specifically aims to understand the dynamic context of peri-urbanization in China due to its rapid growth and constant population inflows and outflows. Peri-urbanization refers to the dynamic process of physical and socioeconomic change beyond the contiguously built-up areas of large cities.2 Peri-urban conditions exist in China in two scenarios: (1) the build-up or expansion around urban centres or cities, and (2) in industrializing villages that are transitioning into towns although they are not part of a major city nexus. This process is also known as “urbanrural integration” (chengxiang yitihua).3 The Peri-urban context in this study refers to these two scenarios as the issues and vulnerable groups analyzed are relevant to both. This paper focuses on peri-urban areas as they play a strategic role in livelihood patterns and risks facing migrants and Micro and Small Businesses (MSBs) and due to the residential function they serve for migrants. Similar to cities and municipalities, peri-urban areas also suffer from weak governance and limited resources to provide urban services to meet these demographic changes.