The Chinese City

Migration externalities in Chinese cities

“…Following this intuition, our first series of instruments relates to historical data. As argued by Wu and Gaubatz (2013), the Chinese urban system is one of the world's oldest. It has evolved over time with major historical events, including the establishment of foreign treaty ports that were part of the 'unequal treaties' that China signed with Western countries in the late Qing dynasty.…”

Place-Based Policies, Firm Productivity and Displacement Effects: Evidence from Shenzhen, China

“…We argue that especially in China, institutional circumstances, pronounced demographic and economic transitions, and a substantial rural-urban migration, enabled the application of placed-based policies in the form of science parks and special economic zones in cities on scales that are unprecedented in Western economies (Wu and Gaubatz, 2013). These policies might stimulate relatively productive firms and people and foster positive spillovers rather than reinforcing negative spillovers, as is often observed in Western countries.…”

“…In addition to the nationally designated areas, there are also provincial-, county-and city-sponsored development zones -such as in Shenzhen. Wu and Gaubatz (2013) observe that science parks attract not only foreign direct investment, they also stimulate domestic investments. Our analyses nevertheless show that science parks may also lead to displacement effects on labour that are on average larger than those observed as a result of place-based policies in developed countries.…”

Changing governmentalities of neighborhood governance in China: a genealogical exploration

“…All the elements in the spatial layout have a ritual meaning, including the direction, the width of roads the size of gates and so on. From these spatial elements, ancient Chinese cities developed into highly sophisticated, preconceived constructions, which served as a physical manifestation of cosmological beliefs, bureaucratic hierarchies, and the practicalities of daily life (Wu, 2013).…”