China is a mountainous country, and most of mountainous areas lie in its western region. In view of the unique and complex situation of human settlements in the mountainous areas in the west, promoting their healthy development amid China’s rapid urbanization becomes an important factor of the strategy for developing the west. However, among the existing studies on urbanization, while there are many on China’s eastern and central regions, only a few exist that study the western region.

The research will focus on the theme of urbanization routes for fragile human settlements in mountainous areas for China’s western region. Taking China’s western region as a whole, I will try to explore the strategic significance, current characteristics, and prominent problems of its human settlement development amid urbanization: What are the strategic significance of urbanization in China’s western region? What are the current characteristics of urbanization in China’s western region? What are the prominent constraints to the urbanization of China’s western region? What is the route for healthy urbanization in China’s western region? What are the overall strategies for healthy urbanization in China’s western region?

My research could be linked to the thematic working groups of “Cities by and for the People” and “The Future of Cities” in UKNA. This research would be helpful to answer the questions to a certain extent that how balance urban-rural development has impacts on the future of urbanisation in China, and how villages, small and medium-sized cities and towns can develop as well as metropolis.