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<article xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:ali="http://www.niso.org/schemas/ali/1.0/" article-type="research-article" dtd-version="1.2" xml:lang="en"><front><journal-meta><journal-id journal-id-type="publisher-id">RUDN Journal of Sociology</journal-id><journal-title-group><journal-title xml:lang="en">RUDN Journal of Sociology</journal-title><trans-title-group xml:lang="ru"><trans-title>Вестник Российского университета дружбы народов. Серия: Социология</trans-title></trans-title-group></journal-title-group><issn publication-format="print">2313-2272</issn><issn publication-format="electronic">2408-8897</issn><publisher><publisher-name xml:lang="en">Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia named after Patrice Lumamba</publisher-name></publisher></journal-meta><article-meta><article-id pub-id-type="publisher-id">48123</article-id><article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.22363/2313-2272-2025-25-4-750-766</article-id><article-id pub-id-type="edn">KFQCNE</article-id><article-categories><subj-group subj-group-type="toc-heading" xml:lang="en"><subject>Contemporary society: the urgent issues and prospects for development</subject></subj-group><subj-group subj-group-type="toc-heading" xml:lang="ru"><subject>Современное общество: актуальные проблемы и перспективы развития</subject></subj-group><subj-group subj-group-type="article-type"><subject>Research Article</subject></subj-group></article-categories><title-group><article-title xml:lang="en">Transformation path of China’s cities in industrial decline: The case of Changchun</article-title><trans-title-group xml:lang="ru"><trans-title>Путь трансформации городов, переживающих промышленный упадок в Китае: пример Чанчуня</trans-title></trans-title-group></title-group><contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author"><name-alternatives><name xml:lang="en"><surname>Zhang</surname><given-names>Xiaohu</given-names></name><name xml:lang="ru"><surname>Чжан</surname><given-names>Сяоху</given-names></name></name-alternatives><bio xml:lang="ru">кандидат исторических наук, старший преподаватель Института философии, истории и культуры</bio><email>xhzhang@xtu.edu.cn</email><xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1"/></contrib><contrib contrib-type="author"><name-alternatives><name xml:lang="en"><surname>Li</surname><given-names>Menglong</given-names></name><name xml:lang="ru"><surname>Ли</surname><given-names>Мэнлун</given-names></name></name-alternatives><bio xml:lang="ru">кандидат исторических наук, доцент Института международных и общественных отношений</bio><email>limenglong@jlu.edu.cn</email><xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2"/></contrib></contrib-group><aff-alternatives id="aff1"><aff><institution xml:lang="en">Xiangtan University</institution></aff><aff><institution xml:lang="ru">Сянтаньский университет</institution></aff></aff-alternatives><aff-alternatives id="aff2"><aff><institution xml:lang="en">Jilin University</institution></aff><aff><institution xml:lang="ru">Цзилиньский университет</institution></aff></aff-alternatives><pub-date date-type="pub" iso-8601-date="2025-12-25" publication-format="electronic"><day>25</day><month>12</month><year>2025</year></pub-date><volume>25</volume><issue>4</issue><issue-title xml:lang="en">VOL 25, NO4 (2025)</issue-title><issue-title xml:lang="ru">ТОМ 25, №4 (2025)</issue-title><fpage>750</fpage><lpage>766</lpage><history><date date-type="received" iso-8601-date="2026-01-19"><day>19</day><month>01</month><year>2026</year></date></history><permissions><copyright-statement xml:lang="en">Copyright ©; 2025, Zhang X., Li M.</copyright-statement><copyright-statement xml:lang="ru">Copyright ©; 2025, Чжан С., Ли М.</copyright-statement><copyright-year>2025</copyright-year><copyright-holder xml:lang="en">Zhang X., Li M.</copyright-holder><copyright-holder xml:lang="ru">Чжан С., Ли М.</copyright-holder><ali:free_to_read xmlns:ali="http://www.niso.org/schemas/ali/1.0/"/><license><ali:license_ref xmlns:ali="http://www.niso.org/schemas/ali/1.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0</ali:license_ref></license></permissions><self-uri xlink:href="https://journals.rudn.ru/sociology/article/view/48123">https://journals.rudn.ru/sociology/article/view/48123</self-uri><abstract xml:lang="en"><p>Since the mid-20th century, many industrial cities have fallen into decline. Traditional industrial areas in many developed countries, such as the Great Lakes region in the northeastern United States, the Ruhr area in Germany, Birmingham and Manchester in the UK, and the Ural industrial zone in Russia, experience industrial decline, weak economic growth and urban decay as a manifestation of regional decline - a “reverse development phenomenon”. Today, economic, social, environmental and other factors made large-scale cross-regional migration almost a social norm, while regions with population outflow inevitably fall into decline due to labor shortage and brain drain. The primary cause of industrial city decline is the unbalanced industrial structure which determined production, resource and capital dependence, reducing flexibility and sustainability of the urban economy. Once an economic crisis affects the urban pillar industry, a vicious cycle of economic weakness and population loss arises and ultimately leads the city into a development trap: economic shocks caused by industrial structure imbalance, demographic shocks from massive loss of labor force, political shocks from urban growth and spatial shocks from suburbanization have led to qualitative changes in the urban spatial pattern, leading to urban decline. The development crisis of industrial cities triggers the collapse of the urban system, resulting in the loss of urban development elements and a decline. China is currently in a transition from industrialization to post-industrialization, and industrial cities face the risk of urban decline. As the capital of the Jilin Province, Changchun is a famous center of heavy industry, and since the mid-20th century the city has faced many development difficulties due to such factors as industrial crisis, population loss and environmental degradation. The decline of Changchun is explained in the article by multiple reasons, including the imbalance of industrial structure, the degradation of urban space and the decline of urban culture. Therefore, Changchun’s revival should also take place in three dimensions: economy, space and culture. The economic dimension implies development of Industry 4.0 and diversified urban economy, networking, informatization and digitalization, optimization of the industrial structure with the focus on service industry and innovation (new industries, new products, new technologies, new business forms and new models of the urban economy) in order to increase the economic resilience of the city and overcome potential economic risks. The spatial dimension implies the regional development thinking to create a new metropolitan area by breaking the traditional urban-rural opposition - Changchun as both a hub city for transportation, economy, scientific and technological innovation in the Jilin Province and even Northeast China and a model and core of the rural revitalization in the Jilin Province’s “hinterland”. The cultural dimension implies the focus on changing the city’s image and spirit by using its “soft power” - cultural influence: on the one hand, historical heritage of Changchun as a city with a long history; on the other hand, its potential of keeping up with the times and innovation.</p></abstract><trans-abstract xml:lang="ru"><p>С середины ХХ века многие промышленные города пришли в упадок. Традиционные промышленные районы во многих развитых странах, такие как район Великих озер на северо-востоке США, Рурская область в Германии, Бирмингем и Манчестер в Великобритании и Уральская промышленная зона в России, испытывают промышленный спад, слабый экономический рост и упадок городов как проявление регионального феномена «обратного развития». Сегодня экономические, социальные, экологические и другие факторы превратили широкомасштабную межрегиональную миграцию почти в социальную норму, тогда как регионы, для которых характерен отток населения, неизбежно приходят в упадок вследствие нехватки рабочей силы и «утечки мозгов». Основная причина упадка промышленных городов - несбалансированная структура промышленности, которая определяет зависимость производства от наличных ресурсов и капитала, снижая тем самым адаптивность и устойчивость городской экономики. Как только кризис затрагивает градообразующую промышленность, возникает порочный круг экономических проблем и оттока населения, что в конечном итоге заводит город в «ловушку развития»: экономические потрясения, вызванные дисбалансом промышленной структуры, демографические потрясения вследствие массового оттока рабочей силы, политические потрясения под влиянием роста городов и пространственные потрясения в условиях субурбанизации порождают качественные изменения в городской пространственной структуре - в итоге кризис промышленности влечет за собой коллапс всей городской системы. Сегодня Китай переживает этап перехода от индустриализации к пост-индустриализации, что не может не затрагивать промышленные центры страны. Город Чанчунь - столица провинции Цзилинь и национальный центр тяжелой промышленности - с середины XX века сталкивается со множеством проблем под влиянием таких факторов, как промышленный кризис, убыль населения и ухудшение состояния окружающей среды. Авторы объясняют нынешний упадок Чанчуня множеством причин, включая дисбаланс промышленной структуры, деградацию городского пространства и неразвитость городской культуры, и намечают три вектора возрождения Чанчуня - экономический, пространственный и культурный. Экономический вектор подразумевает развитие Индустрии 4.0 и диверсифицированной городской экономики и сетевых сообществ, информатизацию, цифровизацию и оптимизацию промышленной структуры с упором на сферу услуг и инновации (новые отрасли, новые продукты, новые технологии, новые формы бизнеса и новые модели городской экономики) в целях повышения экономической устойчивости города и преодоления потенциальных экономических рисков. Пространственный вектор предполагает переход к модели регионального развития в целях создания новой агломерации путем преодоления традиционного противостояния города и деревни: Чанчунь должен стать транспортным хабом и центром экономических, научных и технологических инноваций для провинции Цзилинь и всего Северо-Восточного Китая, а также моделью и ядром возрождения сельской местности (всей «периферии») провинции Цзилинь. Культурный вектор подразумевает изменение образа и духа города с помощью его «мягкой силы» - культурного влияния: с одной стороны, речь идет об историческом наследии Чанчуня как древнего города с богатой историей; с другой стороны, необходимо развивать его потенциал как инновационного центра, способного идти в ногу со временем.</p></trans-abstract><kwd-group xml:lang="en"><kwd>Northeast China revitalization</kwd><kwd>urban transformation</kwd><kwd>industrial city</kwd><kwd>industrial decline</kwd><kwd>old industrial base</kwd><kwd>Changchun</kwd></kwd-group><kwd-group xml:lang="ru"><kwd>возрождение Северо-Восточного Китая</kwd><kwd>городская трансформация</kwd><kwd>промышленный город</kwd><kwd>упадок промышленности</kwd><kwd>старая промышленная база</kwd><kwd>Чанчунь</kwd></kwd-group><funding-group><award-group><funding-source><institution-wrap><institution xml:lang="en">The research was supported by the Research Start-up Fund Project of Xiangtan University. 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