Abstract:

The developed town is an important promotional vehicle for the development of a new type of urbanization and the transformation of grass-roots governance in the new era. To eliminate the rigid constraints of the town system on regional development, the mode of town-to-city upgrade should be adopted according to local conditions, and the mode of county-governed city should be innovatively explored at the same time. From the evolutionary logic of the city system in the new era, the implementation conditions of the two modes are different. In terms of the core elements such as administrative system, administrative space, and administrative units, the connotation of the two modes is obviously different. The applicable object of these two modes can be based on comparing advantages and disadvantages and constraint conditions.“Town-to-city Upgrade” mode is suitable for the non-county government resident towns located at the boundary of the parental county, or the non-county government resident towns which are transportation hubs or border ports but a little away from the metropolis. “County-governed City” mode is suitable for the developed towns that have not yet met the standard of a county-level city but are facing institutional constraints, or the county government resident towns which have met the standard of a county-level city.

Key words: developed towns, town-to-city upgrade, county-governed city