Instructions
Assessment Details and Marking Criteria
You are required to submit a 1,500-word research essay, word-processed with in-text references, footnotes (if appropriate) and a list of references. The purpose of the essay is to allow you to develop research skills and ability to construct and present an argument.
You could either (1) choose to write an essay on one of the questions listed below; or (2) write an essay on a topic of your own choosing. In this case, the topic MUST be approved by the Module Organiser before you start to research and write the essay.
A list of essay questions:
1. What is the role of treaty ports in shaping China’s urban development in the early 20th century?
2. To what extent did rural industrialisation contribute to China’s spatial disparity in the 1980s?
3. How can the ‘push-pull’ model be used to explain rural-to-urban migration in China after 1978?
4. What is the role of social networks in promoting China’s rural-to-urban migration?
5. Why has house price risen rapidly in major Chinese cities in the past two decades?
6. To what extent are patterns of housing and settlement by rural migrants in Chinese urban villages different from, and similar to, slum settlement in other developing countries such as India?
7. How have the housing reforms influenced the urban structure and social life of Chinese urban residents?
8. What are the social and spatial implications of property-led urban regeneration in China?
9. To what extent can China’s policy of developing eco-cities lead to an alternative urban sustainable development model?
10. How has the 1994 tax reform affected the financing of infrastructure in Chinese cities?
11. To what extent has decentralisation after 1980 facilitated the pro-growth policies adopted by local governments in cities?
Try to keep the following points in mind when writing your essay:
• The word limit includes the main body of the essay and in-text references but not footnotes (if appropriate) or list of references. You have a 10 percent margin above or below the word limit before you are penalised.
• Type of question—be aware of the meaning of various styles of questions—compare and contrast; evaluate; to what degree, assess, and so on.
• Content—is there a balance between description and analysis? You need to strike an appropriate balance between the two.
• Overlap—does the question overlap with the content of another module? If so, avoid these kinds of questions.
• Materials—are the resources available to write the essay?