Here are two papers that may be relevant. They are a bit dated, but well cited. I would check the papers that cite them.
Kaufmann, R.K., K.C. Seto, A. Schneider, L. Zhou and Z. Liu, 2007, Climate response to rapid urban growth: evidence of a human-induced precipitation deficit, Journal of Climate, 20:2299-2306.
Zhou, L. R.E. Dickinson, Y. Tian, J. Fang, R.K Kaufmann, and R.B. Myneni, Evidence for a significant urbanization effect on climate in China, Proceeding National Academy of Sciences, 2004, 101(26):9540-9541.