How does the ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ change urbanisation patterns in Southeast Asia?

Abstract

This paper examines how Chinese transnational investments, as (re)framed in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), contribute to changes in urbanisation processes in Southeast Asia. On the ground, the BRI becomes contextualised and intersects with local and national development trajectories. The growing presence of Chinese actors in the region intensifies urban dynamics, especially in secondary cities and emerging urban sites, where the BRI is used as a lever for local internationalisation strategies. The heterogeneous nature of the links between the BRI and various large urban projects is demonstrated on the basis of case studies involving changing consortia of private and public Chinese and Southeast Asian actors. A regional approach allows us to identify connections and shared processes across Southeast Asian countries. It provides a historically grounded understanding of how the BRI incorporates long‐term interactions with China and more recent partnerships in Southeast Asian countries. The paper paves the way for a research agenda that contests the image of China as a monolithic actor implementing the BRI uniformly and consistently. Further analyses are needed to examine systems and networks of actors as well as the local urban politics that affect the BRI on the ground.

One Belt, Many Roads: Investigating China’s Foreign Investment and Land-use Impacts in Southeast Asia

“…Previous studies that have sought to quantify changes in land-use have identified several anthropogenic drivers, including socio-economic (e.g., GDP and population), proximity to economic centers or transportation infrastructure, and land-use policies (Naikoo et al, 2022), with FDI increasingly becoming a major determinant in shaping landscape dynamics (Piabuo et al, 2023). Specifically within the BRI, scholars contend that further research and critical analysis are required to enhance our understanding of how the BRI has instigated diverse patterns of urbanization across the different geographical landscapes of recipient countries (Andujar et al, 2024).…”