The symbol of urbanization in the tide of Spring Festival transportation

Before and after the Spring Festival, the large-scale Spring Festival travel tide began again. This scene not only presents the rapid transformation of "vernacular China", but also contains the profound background of national urbanization. By understanding the symbols of urbanization shown in the Spring Festival travel tide, we can better understand the super-large scale and fast-growing population mobility behind economic growth.

What is the difficulty of Spring Festival transportation? At present, the number of "people and households separated" who have left their streets and towns and lived outside for half a year or more has reached 298 million, of which 253 million have left their districts and counties, and most of them are working and doing business. including 168 million migrant workers. What the Spring Festival travel tide reflects is the huge population movement of rural-urban migration and urban-urban migration since the reform and opening up, and it is the magnificent historical process of China's urbanization. From 36.2% in 2000 to 54.77% by the end of 2014, the urban population in China has reached 749 million. The urbanization force with migrant workers as the main body constitutes the main body of population migration from rural areas to cities and towns.

This kind of population mobility, which is rare before, not only promotes the process of urbanization, but also shows that the migration of floating population is indispensable to the city. It should be noted that the recent economic downturn has limited the demand for employment to a certain extent, and the return of the Spring Festival still has a shock effect on the "labor shortage" of the labor market, especially in the domestic labor market and catering service market in some big cities and megalopolis. There has been an obvious labor shortage, resulting in a substantial increase in the cost of related services. This also shows that the migration of floating population constitutes an important part of the urban industrial army and the labor supply of the service industry. In the economic activities of many cities, the number of non-registered residents has exceeded that of the local population, and they are the contributors, creators and workers of China's urbanization development. Simply regard it as the cost and burden of urbanization development, by no means seeking truth from facts, but also ignore their value to urban growth.

In recent years, the proportion of leisure tourism Spring Festival travel in the long holiday is also increasing. Spring Festival transportation is no longer just a simple transportation mode of "returning home before the Spring Festival" and "returning to the city after the Spring Festival", but also reflects the leisure traffic demand for the south and tourist cities with a warm climate during the festival. This change in content from "going home" to "leisure" reflects the changes in the way of life in contemporary society. With the continuous modernization and urbanization, the Spring Festival begins to produce new values and connotations. Spring Festival travel is not only the return of "home", but also the gradual growth of modern cities and modern way of life. Gradually withdrawing from the Spring Festival transportation mode of "returning to hometown-returning to the city" with the countryside as the center means the development direction of modernity in the process of urbanization.

Of course, the latter form of Spring Festival transportation is still in its infancy, and the Spring Festival transportation mode of "returning home before the festival" and "returning to the city after the festival" also reflects the situation of today's migrant population. Many people have to return to their hometown during the Spring Festival because their children, spouses or parents live in the countryside. Statistics show that there are more than 60 million left-behind children and more than 40 million left-behind elderly people in China. The divisive nature of the huge family life has promoted the "return home" reunion. The lack of recognition of forming a "home" in the cities where they flow into the country is also an important reason for returning home for the Spring Festival. Even if he has lived stably and for a long time in the city, his "home" is still in his native land, so he will join the spring tide of the Spring Festival transportation without hesitation.

City managers should think about how to make migrant migrants identify with their urban life and enhance the integrity of their family life in the city. How to reduce the floating population to return to their hometown during the Spring Festival, let them celebrate the festival in the city, or their parents and relatives can come to the city for reunion, so as to enhance the migrant population's recognition of urban life and social integration? this is a more "people-oriented" development of urbanization. If we change the interaction between urban and rural areas to normalization through more inclusive urbanization, we will certainly be able to promote the development of the country gradually from local society to modern urban and rural life.