Urban Agriculture as a Mechanism of Peasants' Urbanization:A Case Study of the Tea Industry in Hangzhou under Financial Crisis

摘要

Global financial crisis triggered by the U.S. sub prime mortgage crisis has had a great impact on the process of China's urbanization. Under this background, the exploration of the functions of urban agriculture in the process of urbanization has become a hot topic with profound meanings. The versatility of urban agriculture has been known to all; however, it is of fresh opinions to explore its urbanizational functions as a mechanism of peasants' urbanization. Founded upon the case study of Hangzhou tea industry, this paper mainly discusses the functional impact of urban agriculture on the process of the urbanization of peasants, and peri-urban peasants in particular. The discuss includes functional release of financial pressure, the providing of jobs vacancy to assist the privileged, the raise of communication opportunities between new and old citizens, the cultivation of modern scientific consciousness, the building up of cultural and management mechanism of urban district, and the upgrading of the acceptance rates on the side of the senior citizens. Furthermore, this paper raises a policy proposal of assisting peasants' urbanization with the support of urban agriculture, expecting to reduce negative influence of China's urbanization under financial crisis.