Urban History Association Awards

Koji Hirata’s article about Anshan traces the history of this Chinese city from its emergence as a Japanese colonial-industrial center to its transformation into a socialist steel town vital to the industrial development of early Communist China. Hirata makes deft use of the limited sources available to write the history of this Manchurian city, exploring in his article top-down planning policies as well as practices on the ground. The article impressed the committee for its clarity and focus on the influence of earlier Japanese occupation on city building in the PRC.