But the leaders of provincial cities are keen to broaden the focus of urban regeneration projects.
In most provincial cities, by contrast, basic services and security have by now returned.
It is probably no coincidence that Britain's golden age in the 19th century was also a period of powerful provincial cities.
Commitment, responsibility, engagement - these are just some of the buzzwords that have resounded around the conference centres of provincial cities in the past fortnight.
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Analysts long have said that there could be a turning point in Syria if the unrest that has raged in major provincial cities such as Homs, Hama, Daraa, and Deir Ezzor were to spread to the larger cities of Damascus and Aleppo.
Another two criteria addressed cities near provincial capitals, as well as small cities that have had a low degree of compliance with past regulations and the real estate policies of their city governments.
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The most affected areas will be the provincial-level cities of Beijing, Shanghai, and Tianjin plus Hebei, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang provinces.
Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Chongqing are generally classified as Tier 1 cities, while provincial capitals are generally classified as Tier 2.
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In the meantime, the amended law gives provincial governments some authority to supervise cities and regencies on behalf of the centre.
Even bleak provincial towns and the slums around prosperous cities look tidy by the standards of other developing countries.
It is recommended that ministries, ministerial-level agencies, governmental agencies, provincial people's committees, and centrally-affiliated cities instruct the specialized agencies to effectively implement youth-related programmes at national and sub-national levels.
The shopping malls popular in provincial America and Europe and in the new high-rise cities of Asia are unappealingly uniform.
Authorities have built 1 million houses in rural areas and 33, 000 apartments in cities, Yu Wei, spokesman for the Sichuan provincial government, said last Thursday at a news conference, according to state media.
Authorities have built 1 million houses in rural areas and 33, 000 apartments in the cities, said Yu Wei, spokesman of Sichuan provincial government, last Thursday at a press conference, according to state media.
Khalil Saei, the provincial director of crisis management, told the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency that the cities of Ahar and Varzaqan were the hardest hit.
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