Since 2000, a new round of suburbanisation characterised by mixed-use clustered development has begun to unfold in China. This research aims to explore the dynamics of recent suburban growth in China and also provide an empirical case for enriching suburban theory. It is held that suburbanisation in China in its current form is by no means a spontaneous process, but results from capitalism’s creation of a new space to facilitate accumulation. Based on this view, the study examines the underlying forces of contemporary suburban growth with regard to three questions: what is the role of suburbanisation in China’s contemporary capital accumulation regime? How are the suburbs developed under coalitions of different actors? And how is suburban development shaped by demand-side actors? The study is founded on an intensive case study of Shanghai and one of its suburban districts, Songjiang. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods are used. Firsthand data from interviews and a questionnaire survey and a wide variety of secondary data were collected, providing a rich fund of knowledge for the research. While similar forms and functions to (post)-suburban settlements that have recently emerged in Western countries are found in Chinese suburbs, suburbanisation through new town development in China is a strategy of capital accumulation in response to a range of new conditions specific to China’s local context. New towns deal with the recentralisation of both fiscal and land development powers on the one hand, and accommodate the increasing housing demands of a diverse labour force on the other. Moreover, a peculiar land-centred accumulation regime is established in which real estate development and industrial development mutually reinforce each other. The development of these suburban nodes is organised under state-led entrepreneurial governance in which coalitions are led by the suburban district government and followed by various public and private sectors; however, this is manipulated by the municipal government. Demand-based driving forces are manifold, including four interwoven processes: industrial restructuring and economic growth, outwards-migration, urbanisation, and capitalisation. Three types of people, namely migrants, local natives and residents from central Shanghai, constitute the main groups of suburban residents. Their spatial sorting creates a heterogeneous suburban space.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:567205 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Shen, Jie |
| Publisher | Cardiff University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://orca.cf.ac.uk/23846/ |
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