Urban formations at the national,regional and urban district levels in China are discussed.Observations at the national level concern spatio-temporal distributions of regional and county-level cities,as well as designated towns,since 1950,and references to comparable western patterns of urbanization are made.At a regional level and especially for the Yangtze River Delta Region,less well-controlled development appears primarily in conurbated areas between relatively well-managed cities and towns,often causing adverse environmental consequences and economic inefficiencies.At local urban district levels,characteristics of large-block developments are compared with western counterparts,as well as with earlier conditions of Chinese urbanization.Although future adaptation appears possible,problems include a relative inflexibility in prevailing building types,inefficiencies of coarse-grained infrastructure distribution,and potential isolation from relatively high degrees of selfcontainment. Urban formations at the national, regional and urban district levels in China are discussed. Observations at the national level concern spatio-temporal distributions of regional and county-level cities, as well as designated towns, since 1950, and references to comparable western patterns of urbanization are made. At a regional level and especially for the Yangtze River Delta Region, less well-controlled development seem primarily in conurbated areas between relatively well-managed cities and towns, often cause adverse environmental consequences and economic inefficiencies. At local urban district levels , characteristics of large-block developments are compared with western counterparts, as well as with earlier conditions of Chinese urbanization. Although future adaptation appears possible, problems include a relative inflexibility in prevailing building types, inefficiencies of coarse-grained infrastructure distribution, and potential isolation from relatively high degrees of selfcontainment.