城市化是人类文明发展过程中的阶段性表征。尽管苏州古城已历经2500多年，但现代意义上城市化同样也还只有近30年的历程。与工业化进程相对应，苏州的城市化也大致留下了三个阶段的足迹。

　　以乡镇工业崛起为标志的农村工业化带动了苏州的农村城镇化。农村家庭联产承包责任制的推行，掀起了农村人口转移的高潮，苏州270万农村劳动力，就有120万人转移到了1万多家乡镇企业，出现了农村大量的人口和要素向小城镇集聚的现象。在整个80年代，苏州162个小城镇普遍出现了大发展的态势，城镇人口和城镇面积成倍扩大，城镇经济快速发展，城镇功能明显提升，并涌现出一批如塘桥、盛泽等工业重镇。在农村城镇化的过程中，小城镇的建设和繁荣起到了极化和引领的重要作用，城市的经济、文化以及科学技术等对农村的辐射带动，通过小城镇为桥梁和纽带，呈现出城乡协调发展和区域共同发展的特点。

　　90年代以来，新一轮以城市为重点的工业化浪潮带动了苏州以中心城市扩容增量为特点的城市化高潮。通过东园西区的建设和行政区划的调整，苏州中心城市的建成区面积由不足30平方公里扩大到300多平方公里，城区人口由50多万增加到200多万，加上外来常住人口达到400多万。城区经济的发展壮大，使得中心城市的集聚辐射功能大大增强，城市首位度明显提高。五个县级市的市区也相应发育成为中等规模的新兴城市。

　　随着信息革命和网络时代的到来，尤其是工业化进程进入到新型工业化的阶段，苏州开始了新型城市化的积极探索和自觉实践。苏州较早地从城市空间形态布局入手，提出了建设“区域城市”和“网络城市”的理念，积极调整经济结构布局和城镇体系布局，初步形成了沿江地区基础产业带、沿沪宁交通轴线高新技术产业带、沿沪浙地区配套制造业经济带和沿湖现代农业与休闲度假旅游带，基本形成了一个中心城区、五个副中心城区和一批中心镇、特色镇梯度发展的网络城市框架。城市综合实力不断增强，综合服务功能逐步完善，覆盖城乡的系统化、网络化、现代化快速道路框架基本建成，高速公路网密度已接近欧洲发达国家水平。

　　在城市现代化气息日益浓郁的同时，新农村建设在更高的水平上进行，涌现出了常熟蒋巷村、张家港永联村、昆山大唐村、高新区树山村和吴中区旺山村等一批全国知名的社会主义新农村建设的先进典型。

　　Urbanization is a fundamental process in the development of modern civilization. Despite its 2，500 years of history，the city of Suzhou kicked off its campaign toward urbanization only thirty years ago. Parallel to the process of industrialization，the urbanization of Suzhou can also be divided into 3 phases.

　　Initially the industrialization process in certain areas led to an urbanization trend in the countryside of Suzhou，especially the thriving township enterprises. With the implementation of the rural household contract，a system of responsibility with remuneration linked to output，there was a surge in rural population. 1.2 million out of the 2.7 million Suzhou rural labor force worked in some 10，000 township enterprises. This created a phenomenon whereby small towns were congested with large rural populations and various other factors that greatly increased production. In the 1980’s，the 162 small towns under the jurisdiction of Suzhou witnessed an unprecedented development in terms of scale，population，economic strength and township function. Small towns such as Tangqiao and Shengze became famous for their manufacturing industries. In the process of urbanization in Suzhou’s rural areas，the growth and prosperity of such small towns took a pioneering role by influencing and inspiring urban development in various sectors of the economy，culture，science and technology. The initial developments of these small towns contributed to a balanced and coordinated development in both urban and rural areas.

　　Secondly，in the 1990’s a new round of industrialization focusing on urban areas greatly expanded the central city of Suzhou. By adjusting the administrative areas and exploring SND (west to the ancient city) and SIP (east to the ancient city) the central urban area of Suzhou expanded from thirty square kilometers to 300 square kilometers. The urban population of Suzhou grew from one half million to more than two million. Including the migrant resident population from other parts of the country，the total population grew to more than four million. The central city of Suzhou has enjoyed a high primacy ratio and exerts powerful spillover effect thanks to a strong local economy. In addition，the five county-level cities of Suzhou all emerged as boomtowns of medium size with economic strength.

　　With the advent of the IT revolution and the Internet age Suzhou began on its own path of exploration toward a new type of urbanization. Suzhou was among the first cities to begin focusing on urban spatial form and layout by proposing the concept of a “regional city” and “cyber city”. Four economic regional belts were beginning to take shape in Suzhou. Among them most notably are the General Industry Belt along the Yangtze River，the Hi-tech Industry Belt along the Shanghai-Nanjing traffic axis，the Assorted Manufactory Economic Belt neighboring Shanghai and Zhejiang province，and the Modern Agriculture，Tourism and Resort Belt on Taihu Lake. This formed a network of development through an urban framework of one central city area，five sub-central city areas，and a number of towns with strong economic and distinguished features. Suzhou’s comprehensive strength is in its constant enhancement and multiple functions that are always being improved. With a basically completed systems infrastructure，Internet networks，modernized highways and expressways covering urban and rural areas，the urban density and efficiency of Suzhou is comparable to the standards of developed countries in Europe.

　　Going hand in hand with the modernization of urban areas，the construction of a new countryside is gaining great momentum. Many villages in Suzhou have won national awards and praise as forerunners in this regard，such as Jiangxiang Village in Changshu，Yonglian Village in Zhangjiagang，Datang Village in Kunshan，Shushan Village in SND，and Wangshan Village in Wuzhong District.