*我原来写了英文版的。后来，中文版是中美聚焦翻译的（链接：中国需要丹佛这样的城市）
中国拥有自己的纽约、洛杉矶和硅谷。但它也需要波特兰、丹佛和夏洛特。
当中国开启向市场经济转变的改革进程时，一场世界前所未见的大规模城市化进程也同时拉开了帷幕。诸如北京、上海、深圳等拥有炫目天际线、世界级基础设施、承办高规格大型活动能力的城市，成为中国向世界展示其城市化变革的代言人。
2009年至2015年，笔者作为一名城市和地区规划者在中国工作生活，并研究了上百个不同形态和规模的中国城市。由此得知，中国并不缺乏充满魅力和吸引力的中小型城市，这些城市其实都可以成为“中国丹佛”的候选者。但是，由于一些历史、地理、政治和文化上的原因，中国中小城市缺少动感、创新和自信。换句话说，这些城市缺少那些令充满创新精神的人们愿意在此生活和工作的特质。它们是中国版的纽约、洛杉矶和硅谷，是这个国家的政治权力中心、金融中心、娱乐中心、媒体中心和科技中心，同时也是汇聚胸怀将这些城市打造成为这些中心的雄心壮志者们的梦想之地。但是，如果我们沿着城市等级往下探寻，就会发现很难在中国找到如美国波特兰、丹佛、盐湖城、明尼阿波利斯和夏洛特等集动感、历史吸引力和经济活力于一身的中小型城市。
用通俗一点的话来说，中国人喜欢将他们的城市划分为三六九等。人们理所当然地认为，一个城市的级别与其名声和经济竞争力成正比，同时亦与其吸引中产阶级和新经济工作机会的能力成正比。在一个极其重视提高个人物质生活的国度，每个人都面临攀爬社会阶层阶梯的巨大心理压力。其结果就是，一线城市工作机会和房地产价格竞争激烈，而在另一端的三四线城市则面临人才流失。
在美国人对好莱坞和布鲁克林的向往中，我们也可管窥到类似现象，但在美国却找不到弥漫在中国的对生活在三四线城市的自卑感。在美国人心目中，无论是杰弗逊崇尚的田园牧歌遗韵，还是粗犷的天赋使命中的个人主义精神，这些都令美国人相信，来自一个小城市不仅可以被接受，甚至会成为自豪的源泉。纽约或洛杉矶或许在一些高端领域是宇宙中心，但对于成百上千万的美国工程师、医生和其他专业人士来说，在三四线城市工作生活不仅不错，甚至还好过在那些大城市。
对于很多美国成功的小型城市来说，适宜的气候、贴近大自然、自行车道和登山路，是吸引一代拥有环保意识专业人士的重要因素。而位于中国西部的云南（这是我生活长达六年的第二故乡）就拥有很多坐拥这些优点的城市——美丽的群山环抱、有益健康的气候，以及在中国来说算得上奢侈品的清洁空气。有些城市已经开始意识到它们可以从这些优点中受益，但到目前为止它们在吸引游客和退休人员上的成功要远远大于吸引雇主和年轻专业人士。
无论在古代还是改革开放的头二十年，当投资主要集中在东部沿海城市时，云南的竞争力疲弱可以被归结为基础设施不足。但现在的情况已经大不相同。进入新千年后，政策已经开始向中西部省份倾斜，以期改变地区不平衡，而云南等长期被忽视的内陆地区正是这些政策的最大受益者。今天，新机场、高速公路和铁路帮助云南克服了那些阻碍其经济发展的地理障碍。在这片密布高山深谷的复杂地形中，新建高速公路和铁路超过50%的长度都是隧道和桥梁。
基础设施建设是经济发展的先决条件，在这个层面上中国三四线城市已经极大地追赶了上来。这令制造商不再仅仅集中于沿海城市，而是转向内陆，以利用其更加低廉的劳动力。三线城市正在追随一线城市的步伐，建造现代地铁线路、高层商品住房、高级购物中心和炫目的卡拉OK。然而，这些设施并没有成功吸引一二线城市居民的注视。它们更多是旨在吸引四五线城市居民移居至此。
不幸的是，很多三四线城市的城市改造非常肤浅。它们在社会基础设施建设层面——如教育和医疗——依然远远落后。对于一贯以实用性为先的中国中产阶级来说，令他们对一线城市趋之若鹜的原因并非仅仅是这些大城市的时尚华丽，更多是因为这里拥有最好的学校和医院。在制度层面上，北京任命的各级市长们很少是在这个城市土生土长的，而是每五年任期轮换。这意味着市长们常常更关心修建那些可以被记入政绩的华丽炫目的“面子工程”，而非那些可以切实提高本地居民生活质量或推动长期可持续性发展的战略项目。
应对中国城镇体系的系统性失衡是一项长期艰巨的任务。与此同时，在中国的确存在宜居城市。如果辅以有效推广手段和经济激励措施，这些城市有望成为中国的波特兰或丹佛。随着服务业和高科技在中国经济中扮演的角色日益增强，没有理由认为公司和工作机会不会更均衡地分布于中国的城市网络，正如它们在美国一样。在美国，世界500强企业选择将总部设在明尼阿波利斯或奥马哈的可能性并不亚于纽约。
若想令这一目标成为现实，鼓励创业者选择小型城市的社会和经济激励措施必不可少。一些艺术家和创意产业先锋者可以开启积极正面的反馈回路，来挑战那些认为大城市天然好于小城市的固定思维。放松国家垄断，尤其是削弱国家在第三产业的垄断地位，将极大推动在传统权力中心以外创建新的市场竞争空间。
中国在投资建设城市和城市间基础设施方面做得很好。现在它需要更多地投资于可以激励创新的机构和企业，培育能够吸纳人力资源的能力，促进良性循环，以实现城市居民——无论他或她来自于几线城市——都可以享受教育、健康、繁荣和尊严的生活。
When China launched the reforms that put it on the path towards a market economy, it also set in motion the largest scale urbanization the world has ever seen. With their glittering new skylines, world class infrastructure, and hosting duties for high profile events, cities like Beijing, ShanghAI, and Shenzhen are the face of this urban transformation that China chooses to project to the world.
They are China's counterparts to New York, Los Angeles, and Silicon Valley, centers of power for the nation's political, financial, entertainment, media, and tech elites, as well as aspirational cities for ambitious people trying to make it in those fields. A few rungs down the urban hierarchy, however, it's much harder to find Chinese counterparts to match the combination of vibrancy, millennial appeal, and economic robustness of small and medium sized American cities like Portland, Denver, Salt Lake City, Minneapolis, and Charlotte.
As a scholar and observer of cities and regions living in China from 2009 and 2015, I studied up close hundreds of Chinese cities of different shapes and sizes. I learned that China doesn't lack charming and attractive small and medium sized cities, candidates if you will for the "Chinese Denver". But due to historical, geographic, political, and cultural reasons, China's small and medium sized cities lack dynamism, innovation, and confidence, in other words the qualities would make enterprising people want to live and work there.
In popular parlance, Chinese people like to classify their cities according to numbered tiers. It's taken as a given that a city's rank is proportional to its reputation and economic competitiveness, and by extension, its ability to attract middle class and new economy jobs. In a country where so much emphasis is placed on improving ones material lot in life, there is enormous psychological pressure to climb the ladder. The result is job market extreme competition and sky-high real estate prices in first tier cities, and on the other end of the spectrum a brain drain in third and fourth tier cities.
We can see hints of this phenomenon in Americans drawn to Hollywood or Brooklyn, but there's no American parallel to the inferiority complex that lower tier Chinese cities are saddled with. Something in the American psyche, be it Jefferson's lingering agrarian ideal, or the rugged individualism of Manifest Destiny, tells us that it's okay, in fact it's a source of pride, to be from a small city. New York and LA may be the centers of the universe for a handful of prestige industries, but for millions of American engineers, doctors, and other professionals, third and fourth tier cities are just fine, even preferable.
For many of America's successful small cities, a pleasant climate, proximity to nature, bike lanes, and hiking trails are important pull factors for a generation of environmentally conscientious professionals. Cities in the western Chinese province (and my adopted home for six years) of Yunnan possesses many of the same amenities — beautiful mountain backdrops, a salubrious climate, and — a rarity in China — clean air. Some of these places have realized that these are assets to capitalize on, but so far they've done a better job attracting tourists and retirees than employers and young professionals.
In both ancient times and during the first two decades of reform, when investment mainly benefited cities on China's eastern coast, Yunnan's competitive weakness could be blamed on its paucity of infrastructure. That is no longer the case, as policy shifts since the 2000s have sought to rectify regional imbalances, prioritizing long-neglected inland regions like Yunnan. Today, new airports, highways and railroads overcome geographical obstacles that long kept Yunnan isolated. In this complex terrain of towering mountains and deep river valleys, more than 50% of the length of new highways and railroads are tunnels and bridges.
Physical infrastructure is a prerequisite for economic development, and on this measure lower tier Chinese cities have caught up significantly. This has allowed manufacturers to not be so tied to coastal cities as they once were, to move inland and take advantage of lower cost labor. Third tier cities are following in the footsteps of first tier cities, installing modern subway systems as well as the consumer trappings of residential high rises, shiny new shopping malls, and gaudy karaoke palaces. But these amenities aren't enticing residents of first and second tier cities to give them a second look; they're aimed more at residents of fourth and fifth tier cities looking for an upgrade.
Unfortunately, many of the improvements in lower tier cities are only skin deep; they continue to lag far behind in areas like education and health care. Perennially practical, middle class Chinese are drawn to first tier cities less for their chic and more for their schools and hospitals. On a structural level, city mayors are appointed by Beijing, rarely hail from the cities they serve, and are rotated every five years. This means mayors are often more concerned with splashy "face projects" that can count towards their promotion than with projects that actually improve the quality of life for city residents, or with crafting strategic plans to maximize the long term sustainabilty of the cities they serve.
Addressing the systemic imbalances in China's urban system will be a difficult and long-term endeavor. In the mean time, there are livable cities in China which, with the right marketing and economic incentives, could become Chinese Portlands or Denvers. As service industries and technology expand their role within the Chinese economy, there's no reason why firms and good jobs can't be more evenly spread out across the national network of cities, as they are in the US where Fortune 500 companies are just as likely to be located in Minneapolis or Omaha as they are in New York.
For this to happen, there need to be more entrepreneurs willing to take a chance on smaller cities. A few pioneers, along with a healthy mix of artists and creative types, could start positive feedback loops, challenging the mindset that large cities are automatically superior to small cities. Loosening state monopolies, especially in the service sector, would be a significant step in moving the ball forward, creating new spaces of market competition outside the traditional power centers.
China has done a good job investing in urban and intraurban physical infrastructure; now it needs to invest in the institutions and enterprises that spur innovation and build capacity for human capital, promoting a virtuous cycle wherein every citizen, no matter the size or status of his or her city, can be educated, healthy, prosperous, and live with dignity.
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