Drawing up the missing link: State-society relations and the remaking of urban landscapes in Chinese cities

Abstract

Studies of China’s urban transformation are characterized by diverse interpretations of the relevance of the theory of neoliberalism and continuing tension of epistemology vis-à-vis ontology. This research foregrounds state-society interplay as an alternative lens and analytical tool to understand China’s urban transformation in the context of neoliberalization and global urbanism. The remaking of the Chinese urban landscape is found to be shaped not simply by forces of agglomeration economies or bid-rent dynamism but more by the contestation and negotiation between a fragmented authoritarian state and a rapidly changing society. Existing land users are motivated by a decentralized power of decision-making and a share of the land conveyance income previously monopolized by the state. Contrary to normal expectation, urban redevelopment plays a role of greater significance in the local land supply of those cities in some less advanced regions than in the demographically dense and economically advanced regions. Administratively, urban redevelopment tends to prevail in those modes of land disposition that are either monopolized by the state or subject to close-door negotiation. Redevelopment is less contentious in a “village-in-the-city” where decisions are made by the collective organization internally than the other involving developers externally. Land use intensity and efficiency have been improved along with intensified social exclusion and marginalization. Drawing up the missing link concerning state-society relations may provide new insights to solve the myth of an urban China so ambivalent when seen in the lens of neoliberalism and help reconcile methodological tension in the studies of comparative urbanism involving China.

Cultural Policy Formation and State-Society Relations: Culture-led Urban Redevelopment of Enninglu in Guangzhou

“…However, while analyses of Asian developmental states can be applied to China to some extent, this tends to neglect the more powerful party-state rule in Chinese governance and the reorientation of socialist regimes (Oakes 2019; Perry 2017). This includes issues such as emerging social actors in the post-Mao era, negotiated governance mechanisms, and dynamic state-society relations, which are also important theoretical concerns in the study of “Chinese urbanism” (Lin 2007, 2021; Oakes 2019:197). However, current research on Asian cultural/creative cities places more emphasis on top-down policy-making, but mostly neglects the role of civil society and the local social protests and policy responses that accompany the transplantation of cultural policies to Asia (Gu et al 2020:5–8).…”

“…In short, China’s urban policies have often emerged in a tug-of-war between the state and society, serving to pacify social resistance and reconsolidate the state-led urban agenda. But current scholarship on urban China lacks an in-depth examination of the linkages between city-making and state-society relations (Lin 2021).…”

“…The case of China is particularly insightful in advancing this discussion. Due to the powerful party-state rule in authoritarian China and the emergence of social actors in the post-Mao era, the dynamic state-society relations have always been an important issue in the study of "Chinese urbanism" (Lin 2007(Lin , 2021Oakes 2019;Perry 2017). Therefore, this article further focuses on the emergence of culture-led urban development in China in recent years and examines the following research questions: How has cultural policy emerged and evolved in China's urban protests in recent years, and how has it re-regulated state-society relations at the city level?…”

Geographies of infrastructure III: Infrastructure with Chinese characteristics

“…This is another key ‘Chinese characteristic’ that authors emphasize to undercut the neoliberal lens: the state and its multiple agents control the economy, the private sector is almost entirely subordinate to their will and the Party can shift direction should it feel that social stability or its power is threatened (Chan, 2010; Wang and Liu, 2015; Zhou et al, 2019). In the words of Zhou et al (2019: 36), it is ‘primarily a party-state rather than a capitalist class project’ where its seemingly uncontrolled nature enables the state to ‘exercise power over land development’ mediating among powerful interests in a context of shifting state–society relations (Lin, 2010, 2021: 82).…”

Institutional Deficiencies in Market-Led Residential Redevelopment in Shenzhen, China

“…On the other hand, researchers show that dilapidated housing estates have drawn attention to both residents and the government since the turning of the century, but the market-led institutional arrangement hinders rather than facilitates their redevelopment (Li, Han, and Wu 2019;Tian and Yao 2018) ii . Even in the urban village context, the liberal institutional arrangement might have improved redevelopment efficiency but intensified 'social exclusion and marginalisation' (Lin 2021). Apparently, there is no collective organisations for residents to rely upon in dilapidated housing estates comparable to that for residents in the urban villages, though the state and market players remain.…”