Research On Development Of Small Town In Western Minority Regions

Development of small towns is based on economic development. Over the recent years, with the rapid development of domestic economy, accelerated urbanization, and increasingly improvement of the urbanization level, development of small towns has also entered a new stage and town construction has become a topic of concern.At present, researches for small towns are mostly concentrated in the eastern and central regions, while those for western minority regions are fewer. The small towns’ development in minority regions began to receive attention when that in the developed regions has become mature. Minority regions, due to the geographical and cultural characteristics, show a gap with other places in the urbanization process, and are relative backward in economy and culture compared with other parts of the country. Most small towns in minority regions are mainly located in the underdevelopment areas, and their development requires a unique model. This study targeting the towns in minority regions selects Jinping Town in Southeast Yunnan as an example, and obtains the rules through analysis of the development status of small towns, so as to propose solutions after an in-depth analysis of the problems emerging in the development. Lastly, optimization model for urban development in the minority regions is discussed following the study of the development of Jinping Town.In this paper, the development of small towns is studied mainly through qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis, combining the data obtained in field research in the case study area of Jinping Town with the principal component analysis. This paper is divided into six main parts:the first part introduces the research overview of small towns; the second part describes the process, types, and the main dynamic mechanism of the development of small towns in minority areas in western China; the third part introduces the basic situation of the selected area of Jinping; the fourth part, by making use of the principal component analysis, studies the development and changes in small towns from 1999 to 2008.14 relevant data indicators are selected in this part and it is concluded that:a. Jinping Town has shown a developing state in economy, culture and other aspects in the decade, however, its urban development level still in the backward stage compared with other regions; b. although industrial development in Jinping Town with a weak foundation has been lagged behind, it still plays an important role in local economic development;c. the unique ethnic customs and geographical environment has played a great role in promoting the development of the local tourism, meanwhile, development of tourism enhanced the economic growth.In the fifth part, the urban development and the main problems encountered in Jinping Town is summarized. Overall, these problems were caused by the weak economic base, backward industrial development, low level of industrialization of agriculture, backward urban infrastructure, etc; In the sixth part, optimization measures in connection with the above problems are put forward, these measures include targeting fiscal levy to vigorously foster financial resource projects and promote industrial development; well-managing the industrial park development, improving the investment environment, adjusting the agricultural industry, fostering characteristic industries and key industries, accelerating the pace of infrastructure construction, etc. Through analyzing the urban development in Jinping Town and the characteristics of small towns’development in minority regions, the results obtained in Jinping Town also represents the characteristics of small towns’development in minority regions.