A copy of Florentijn Hofman's Rubber Duck on the lake in Beijing's Yuyuantan Park.Lei Kesi /for China Daily

Official figures show that in 1980, when China was in the infancy of reform and opening-up, the urbanization rate was a mere 19 percent. It surpassed 52.6 percent last year, which marked a historic change in the urban and rural structure, with city dwellers outnumbering their rural counterparts for the first time.

"The urbanization rates of developed countries are generally above 80 percent. This means that China has great potential in urban expansion," Zhu Di, deputy director of the arts department under the Ministry of Culture, said at a public art forum in Fujian province in June.

During the urbanization process, a dynamic city culture is taking shape at a rapid speed, he said.

"The rapid pace of urbanization in China has created extensive space for the evolution of public art. In return, public art has arisen to promote cities' cultural diversity. It breathes the air of transformation into traditional cultures, and adds new elements to the urban art landscape."

Meanwhile, public art has been entrusted with major social responsibilities. For instance, it helps build a city's image, and it reflects a city's soft power. And playing such an important role, it has inevitably aroused skepticism when it fails to satisfy city dwellers.

"It used to be a core function of public art to educate and worship heroes, which therefore produced a great deal of monuments and memorial sculptures," said Yin Shuangxi, a professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts.

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"The practice won vigorous governmental support in many countries, regardless of the social system. But it has been on the decline in recent years."

He added that public art also improves an urban space's appearance by underlining the creator's personal views on beauty; but neither of these two types of public art conducts a deeper interaction with residents' daily life.