Similarities Between China And European Industrialization

China and Europe’s Industrialization, More Similar Than You Think

Between 1750 and 1914 CE, Europe experienced the Industrial Revolution, a period in which many economies switched from being primarily agrarian based to an economy that is focused on the mass manufacturing of goods (www.investopedia.com/terms) . This allowed European countries to receive an economic edge during the time period, replacing the economic powerhouse which was China. While Europe took the lead in terms of economy and wealth, they started to decline in terms of environmental health, not taking action or establishing legal restrictions to combat their growing environmental problems until the 1970s (www.eea.europa.eu/environmental-time-line). However, 230 years after

In Europe and China, the introduction of major factories and other, similar establishments lead to a considerable increase of urban jobs. In Europe, these factories began producing a large quantity of products, at a faster speed, and with the final quality being equal to rural workers’. With this new growing trend of buying cheaper, manufactured goods, many European workers, specifically craftsmen and independent producers, began being displaced (Spodek, 575). With the factories offering job positions to the newly unemployed rural workers, cities saw a boom in the workforce and the overall population. This migration brought in many young women and rural families with young children. This European trend is being repeated today in China. In a survey from 2015, there had been a 30% increase of China’s urban population from 1990 to 2015 (Farrar) and most of the new population were younger adults and small families coming from rural provinces. Another direct parallel between Europe and China’s industrialization is the shift of demographics and the rise of a middle class. In Europe during the Industrial Revolution, many young women came to the city to create a profit or living for themselves before getting married. However, the increase of independent women in urban settings wasn’t the only thing that drove the shift of male to female workers. In Europe during the

Due to previously mentioned urban migration trend, Europe experienced major urban population booms which resulted in many sanitation and housing facilities to fail in meeting the needs of the new population (www.britannica.com/topic). The government was now tasked with being able to meet the housing and sanitation needs of a growing population. A solution to the housing crisis in industrializing Europe was the building of tenements and slums. Factory workers and the new, poor families lived in these slums. Over time, European cities started to undertake products that would improve the sanitation in all places including the slums. These projects included street lighting and improved underground sewage systems. In China, the government has also had to take up more extensive urban planning due to their larger population when compared to industrial Europe’s population. Rural and urban slums have been established to house the poorer factory and rural farmers, some of these slums have popped up near or in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai (Foggin). New sewage plants have been established, sewer systems have been expanded, dams, alternative power sources, and other facilities that promote sanitation and clean energy have been built near these slums. Urban planning sparked by industrialization has played a major role in both European and Chinese government