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Research subject

Chengdu’s urban development model and changing governance in the ‘Park City’ era: a view of state entrepreneurialism

Primary supervisor:ÌýProfessor Fulong Wu
Secondary supervisor:ÌýDr Jessica Ferm
Sponsor:ÌýUCL, China Scholarship CouncilÌý
Starting date:ÌýSeptemberÌý2022
Projected completion date:ÌýAugust 2026

China’s economic and urban development has undergone historical transformation with late capitalism and geopolitical dynamics. Capital accumulation and state strategies have intensified contradictions in the recent decade. The thesis examines the shifting Chinese urban development model and governance approaches during this transformation. From a view of state entrepreneurialism, the thesis identifies the tension between capital logic and territorial logic in urban development. State entrepreneurialism explains how the state’s strategic intentions are constrained by capital accumulation, and how the state utilises and mobilises these conditions for strategic goals. The thesis develops a conceptual framework that clarifies the theoretical position of state entrepreneurialism. Chinese urban development and governance are understood through the dialectic between capital and territorial logic in structural coherence from historical and material ground.Ìý

The thesis employs case studies under Chengdu’s ‘Park City’ initiative. ‘Park City’ represents a new period of urban development characterised by declining land marginal revenue, emphasis on ecological governance, and reinforced national strategies. The thesis examines Chengdu as an urban case and two intra-urban cases marked by significant changes during the ‘Park City’ era. First, Chengdu’s changing urban development model since 2008 under the tension between capital logic and territorial logic is examined. The section studies the historical-material ground underlying the changing planning discourse from ‘Garden City’ to ‘Park City.’ Second, the thesis explores the shifting governance of the Ecological Ring Zone (ERZ), from greenway development to ecological and farmland restoration. The section investigates how the intensifying crisis over territorial logic has influenced ERZ governance, and, in turn, how capital accumulation constrains and is mobilised by the changing governance approaches. Third, the thesis examines the changing urban development of the Jiaozi Central Business District (CBD), including the evolving crises in capital accumulation and their interaction with state strategies.

Biography

Publications

Deng H (2023) Positioning China’s state entrepreneurialism in structural coherence and multiple logics. Transactions in Planning and Urban Research: 27541223231188599.

Deng H, Zhang K, Wang F, et al. (2021) Compact or disperse? Evolution patterns and coupling of urban land expansion and population distribution evolution of major cities in China, 1998–2018. Habitat International 108: 102324.

Zhang K, Deng H, Wang F, et al. (2023) Reproduction of consumer spaces and historic district touristification in Old Beijing City. Tourism Geographies 25(2–3): 508–531.

Wang F, Fang Y, Deng H, et al. (2022) How community medical facilities can promote resilient community constructions under the background of pandemics. Indoor and Built Environment 31(4): 1018–1027.

Conference Papers and Presentations

Deng H, Zhang K and Wang C (2021) Fringe belt alienation and new kernels of Chinese megacities: a case study of Qingdao. ISUF 2020 Virtual Conference Proceedings, [S.l.], v. 1, feb. 2021. ISSN 2709-5274. DOI: .

Zhang K and Deng H (2019) The decline and regeneration of the public markets in Beijing: a practice of community development and space production. Proceedings of the International Conference on Changing Cities IV: Spatial, Design, Landscape & Socio-Economic dimensions, 198-209. ISSN: 2654-0479.

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