Abstract: By analyzing the existing literatures, this paper establishes an evaluation index system of the quality of urbanization in underdeveloped areas according to their realities. Taking Jiangxi Province as a typical case of underdeveloped area, it conducts an empirical study on the quality of urbanization development with the method of PCA, the UDIT theory and the breaking-point theory. The results show that the urbanization development in Jiangxi province is out of balance. The quality of urbanization in the prefectural-level cities can be divided into three grades with three characteristics, such as the obvious quality gap between the north and the south, the quality of urbanization being inversely proportional to the regional area, and the regions with lower quality of urbanization lacking driving force. The relevant indicators show that the UDIT between Nanchang and the prefectural-level cities is bigger except the ecological environment.

Key words: quality of urbanization; PCA; UDIT; the breaking-point theory