In the context of the national economic deceleration amid dwindling export and investment demand, urbanization is viewed as a particularly important relay baton to sustain China's economic momentum by boosting domestic demand.

However, there have been huge controversies over what kind of urbanization China should have and how. In some regions, urbanization has been used as an excuse for "construction expansion", creating heaps of good-looking gross domestic product figures while bringing no substantial improvements in people's lives.

A recent urbanization roadmap drafted by the National Development and Reform Commission gets to the crux of the problem. According to a report submitted by China's top economic planner to the national legislature on Wednesday, policy restrictions on people gaining a household registration, or hukou, in towns and small cities will be removed and such restrictions on newcomers to middle-sized cities will be suspended in an orderly manner.