Urban restructuring and new area strategy in transitional China : the case of Chongqing

Abstract

Adopting a political economic perspective, this dissertation identifies the nature and characteristics of urban restructuring through the lens of the Xinqu [new area] strategy. It contributes to China’s urban studies in two ways. First, it conceptually frames the ambiguous term “urban restructuring” and uses a comparative view to apply Western theory to China. Second, it introduces the emerging Xinqu that is not included in previous studies to update the imprints of urban change and to enrich the literature. The core argument is that China’s urban restructuring is inherently growth-oriented and multiscale and that the national new area strategy, as a self-regulation project, is associated and interacts with urban restructuring at multiple spatial levels in which the spaces is reconfigured, the government powers are reshuffled, and industrial activities are reorganized. This core argument is supported by findings from a four-stage study.

First, under the changing governance context and policy shifts, the new area strategy has evolved from an isolated “policy zone” to a synergic “urban functional area” for both industrialization and rural urbanization. The new area remains growth-oriented, but with regulation and re-adjusted policies to reassure social instability and resolve tensions and contradictions, it “fixes” rural labor and facilitates a more efficient and flexible way of capital accumulation. Second, the LJNA greatly facilitates the (re)organization of industrial resources and (re)configuration of industrial spatial structure in Chongqing at multiple spatial levels, whereas the effects of LJNA on population redistribution are limited to the urban core. The omnipotent government and local elites play significant roles in industrial development and forge strategic partnerships with private and foreign sectors in the commercial housing and public service market to provide a high-quality environment for urban living. Third, the central, municipal, district, and township governments are involved in new area development and the process has elicited a rescaling of government powers, leading to multi-level governance of new area that de/recentralization occurs in the dynamic system. Chongqing’s municipal government is integrating local resources to apply the national strategy and steering the new area development in each stage. Fourth, the new area strategy, though reorganizing local industrial resources and nurturing some new firms on site, generally fails to build inter-firm network for efficient production. The production and consumption market is domestic-oriented, locally based, and the share of the oversea market is quite small. Perception from the firms towards the business environment is overall positive. It reveals that the generous support from the local government is the primary factor attracting the tenants and that the tenants are not impressed with the essential qualities of the industrial parks.

With a thorough comparison of the political background between China and the West, the thesis expands the application of Western concepts such as neoliberalism, spatial fix, urban entrepreneurialism, state rescaling, and growth machine to China’s urban studies. It also thoroughly examines the operational mechanism of the local developmental state model and empirically generates significant insights into the future development of Chinese cities.