IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v11y2022i7p972-d847317.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Restructuring for Growth in Development Zones, China: A Systematic Literature and Policy Review (1984–2022)

Author

Listed:
  • Lingfan Yang

    (School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China)

  • Xiaolong Luo

    (School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China)

  • Ziyao Ding

    (School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China)

  • Xiaoman Liu

    (School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China)

  • Zongni Gu

    (School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China)

Abstract

China’s development zones have been enjoying a process of dramatic growth and restructuring since the start of the new millennium, which has been extensively documented in the literature. The growth stems from the increased scope and expansion in demand created by China’s economic growth, as well as gradual global economic reconfiguration, which has, in itself, become a factor in advancing the country’s spiraling economic growth. This article examines the trajectory of the growth and restructuring of China’s development zones since 1984, by reviewing critical policies and their measures and effects, as well as academic research in this field, focusing on transitional stages, features and mechanisms. Based on different academic viewpoints, the work sets out a three-pronged conceptual framework composed of institutional transition, industrial evolution and land use transformation to systematize the growth process. In recent years, the restructuring of development zones has come to be considered as a comprehensive and complex issue, and its main challenges arise from factors such as overcoming outdated institutional arrangements, strengthening market participation, promoting high-end industrial agglomeration and breaking the bottleneck of inefficient land use. This article uses a multi-dimensional, logical approach to address the growth of development zones, and examines relevant practices and studies so as to explore the deeply rooted correlations between different dimensions in more depth and to examine the innate and unchanged logic involved in the restructuring of development zones.

Suggested Citation

  • Lingfan Yang & Xiaolong Luo & Ziyao Ding & Xiaoman Liu & Zongni Gu, 2022. "Restructuring for Growth in Development Zones, China: A Systematic Literature and Policy Review (1984–2022)," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-32, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:7:p:972-:d:847317
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/7/972/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/7/972/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fulong Wu, 1999. "Intrametropolitan FDI firm location in Guangzhou, China A Poisson and negative binomial analysis," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 33(4), pages 535-555.
    2. Bob Jessop & Ngai-Ling Sum, 2000. "An Entrepreneurial City in Action: Hong Kong's Emerging Strategies in and for (Inter)Urban Competition," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 37(12), pages 2287-2313, November.
    3. David Wall, 1993. "China's Economic Reform and Opening‐Up Process: The Role of the Special Economic Zones," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 11(3), pages 243-260, September.
    4. Gao, Jinlong & Chen, Wen & Liu, Yansui, 2018. "Spatial restructuring and the logic of industrial land redevelopment in urban China: II. A case study of the redevelopment of a local state-owned enterprise in Nanjing," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 372-380.
    5. Jie Shen & Xiang Luo & Fulong Wu, 2020. "Assembling mega-urban projects through state-guided governance innovation: the development of Lingang in Shanghai," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(12), pages 1644-1654, December.
    6. Sun, Yifan & Ma, Anbing & Su, Haorui & Su, Shiliang & Chen, Fei & Wang, Wen & Weng, Min, 2020. "Does the establishment of development zones really improve industrial land use efficiency? Implications for China’s high-quality development policy," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    7. Yehua Dennis Wei & Chi Kin Leung, 2005. "Development Zones, Foreign Investment, and Global City Formation in Shanghai," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(1), pages 16-40, February.
    8. Yingcheng Li & Xingping Wang, 2019. "Innovation in suburban development zones: Evidence from Nanjing, China," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1), pages 114-129, March.
    9. Ann Markusen, 1996. "Sticky Places in Slippery Space: A Typology of Industrial Districts," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 72(3), pages 293-313, July.
    10. Zheng, Siqi & Sun, Weizeng & Wu, Jianfeng & Kahn, Matthew E., 2017. "The birth of edge cities in China: Measuring the effects of industrial parks policy," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 80-103.
    11. Gao, Jinlong & Chen, Wen & Yuan, Feng, 2017. "Spatial restructuring and the logic of industrial land redevelopment in urban China: I. Theoretical considerations," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 604-613.
    12. Guo, Di & Guo, Yan & Jiang, Kun, 2016. "Government-subsidized R&D and firm innovation: Evidence from China," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(6), pages 1129-1144.
    13. Zheng, Dan & Shi, Minjun, 2018. "Industrial land policy, firm heterogeneity and firm location choice: Evidence from China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 58-67.
    14. Gérard Roland, 2004. "Transition and Economics: Politics, Markets, and Firms," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 026268148x, April.
    15. Guenter Heiduk & Nicole Pohl, 2001. "Empirical Evidence From Wuhan'S State-Level Economic Development Zones," Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(2), pages 244-260.
    16. Canfei He & Junsong Wang, 2010. "Geographical agglomeration and co-agglomeration of foreign and domestic enterprises: a case study of Chinese manufacturing industries," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(3), pages 323-343.
    17. Zhuang, Liang & Ye, Chao, 2020. "Changing imbalance: Spatial production of national high-tech industrial development zones in China (1988-2018)," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    18. Bai, Xue-Jie & Yan, Wen-Kai & Chiu, Yung-Ho, 2015. "Performance evaluation of China's Hi-tech zones in the post financial crisis era — Analysis based on the dynamic network SBM model," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 122-134.
    19. Yi Lu & Jin Wang & Lianming Zhu, 2019. "Place-Based Policies, Creation, and Agglomeration Economies: Evidence from China's Economic Zone Program," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 11(3), pages 325-360, August.
    20. Ge, Wei, 1999. "Special Economic Zones and the Opening of the Chinese Economy: Some Lessons for Economic Liberalization," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 27(7), pages 1267-1285, July.
    21. Senlin Hu & Gang Zeng & Liang Zhuang & Haimeng Liu, 2020. "Towards more dispersion: the geographical evolution of China's development zones," Regional Studies, Regional Science, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(1), pages 495-498, January.
    22. Ning, Lutao & Wang, Fan & Li, Jian, 2016. "Urban innovation, regional externalities of foreign direct investment and industrial agglomeration: Evidence from Chinese cities," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(4), pages 830-843.
    23. Hong Liu & Ting‐Yan Wang, 2021. "The institutionalization and effectiveness of transnational policy transfer: The China–Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park as a case study," Public Administration & Development, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 41(3), pages 103-114, August.
    24. Thomas Farole & Gokhan Akinci, 2011. "Special Economic Zones : Progress, Emerging Challenges, and Future Directions," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2341.
    25. Johansson, Helena & Nilsson, Lars, 1997. "Export processing zones as catalysts," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 25(12), pages 2115-2128, December.
    26. Deming Luo & Yanjun Liu & Yiyun Wu & Xiwei Zhu & Xiangrong Jin, 2015. "Does development zone have spillover effect in China?," Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(3), pages 489-516, July.
    27. Wang, Jin, 2013. "The economic impact of Special Economic Zones: Evidence from Chinese municipalities," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 133-147.
    28. Yu Zhou & Yifei Sun & Y. H. Dennis Wei & George C. S. Lin, 2011. "De-centering 'spatial fix'--patterns of territorialization and regional technological dynamism of ICT hubs in China," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 11(1), pages 119-150, January.
    29. Andrew C. Inkpen & Wang Pien, 2006. "An Examination of Collaboration and Knowledge Transfer: China–Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(4), pages 779-811, June.
    30. Zheng, Guo & Barbieri, Elisa & Di Tommaso, Marco R. & Zhang, Lei, 2016. "Development zones and local economic growth: zooming in on the Chinese case," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 238-249.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ziliang Zhao & Xiaolong Li & Yaya Liu & Lingfan Yang & Meng Liu, 2024. "Exploring Spatial Differentiation in Cultural Urban Land Use in China’s Ancient and Emerging Cities: A Comparative Case Study of Xi’an and Shenzhen," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-22, November.
    2. Haoran Bai & Nan Li, 2024. "Exploring Green Economic Efficiency Trends in Dominant Chinese Urban Agglomerations: A Super-Efficient SBM Model Approach," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(3), pages 10325-10348, September.
    3. Nie, Changfei & Ye, Susu & Feng, Yuan, 2024. "Place-based policy and urban green technology innovation: Evidence from the revitalization of old revolutionary base areas in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 1257-1272.
    4. Lanzhuang Xu & Hu Xue & Qianrong Wu, 2022. "The Impact of Development Zones on Economic Growth in Less Developed Regions: Evidence from Guangxi, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-20, September.
    5. Jieping Chen & Xianpeng Long & Shanlang Lin, 2022. "Special Economic Zone, Carbon Emissions and the Mechanism Role of Green Technology Vertical Spillover: Evidence from Chinese Cities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-22, September.
    6. Debin Ma & Jie Zhang & Ziyi Wang & Dongqi Sun, 2022. "Spatio-Temporal Evolution and Influencing Factors of Open Economy Development in the Yangtze River Delta Area," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-24, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Qixuan Wang & Jie Ren & Simin Yan & Zhan Cao & Yao Cheng, 2023. "Do the High-Tech Industrial Development Zones Foster Urban Innovation? A Case Study of China," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-18, April.
    2. Weijie Jiang & Kairui Cao & Laiqun Jin & Yongyi Cheng & Qunfang Xu, 2022. "How Do China’s Development Zones Affect Environmental Pollution under Government Domination," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-18, March.
    3. Sun, Yifan & Ma, Anbing & Su, Haorui & Su, Shiliang & Chen, Fei & Wang, Wen & Weng, Min, 2020. "Does the establishment of development zones really improve industrial land use efficiency? Implications for China’s high-quality development policy," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    4. Kaimeng Li & Shuang Gao & Yuantao Liao & Ke Luo & Shaojian Wang, 2022. "The Impact of Development Zones on China’s Urbanization from the Perspectives of the Population, Land, and the Economy," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-16, October.
    5. Shouwei Qi & Yating Chen & Kaili Chu, 2024. "Lifting the Veil: Using a Spatial Discontinuity to Assess the Impact of National Development Zones on Upgrading of Chinese Manufacturing," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 35(4), pages 855-886, September.
    6. Lanzhuang Xu & Hu Xue & Qianrong Wu, 2022. "The Impact of Development Zones on Economic Growth in Less Developed Regions: Evidence from Guangxi, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-20, September.
    7. Ronald B. Davies & Rodolphe Desbordes, 2018. "Export Processing Zones and the Composition of Greenfield FDI," Working Papers 201807, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    8. Jingyi Tian & Jun Nagayasu, 2023. "Financial Systemic Risk behind Artificial Intelligence:Evidence from China," TUPD Discussion Papers 44, Graduate School of Economics and Management, Tohoku University.
    9. Zhaoying Lu, 2022. "Human Capital Spillovers from Special Economic Zones: Evidence from Yangtze Delta in China," Economies, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-15, April.
    10. Sun, Yajie & Liao, Wen-Chi, 2021. "Resource-Exhausted City Transition to continue industrial development," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    11. Fang, Guanfu & Gao, Tiantian & Xu, Peng, 2024. "Beyond the borders: Estimating the effect of China's Bonded Zones on innovation and its spillovers," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    12. Qiong Wang & Ru Yang & Ruyue Zhao & Chengyuan Wang, 2019. "Does State-level Upgrade of High-tech Zones Promote Urban Innovation Efficiency: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-14, November.
    13. Zhaoying Lu, 2021. "Human capital spillovers from Special Economic Zones: evidence from Yangtze Delta in China," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 21-02, Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics.
    14. Xi, Qiangmin & Mei, Lin, 2022. "How did development zones affect China’s land transfers? The scale, marketization, and resource allocation effect," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    15. Lu, Xinhai & Chen, Danling & Kuang, Bing & Zhang, Chaozheng & Cheng, Chen, 2020. "Is high-tech zone a policy trap or a growth drive? Insights from the perspective of urban land use efficiency," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    16. World Bank Group, 2017. "Special Economic Zones," World Bank Publications - Reports 29054, The World Bank Group.
    17. Zhaoying Lu, 2021. "Quantifying the effects of Special Economic Zones using spatial econometric models," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 21-01, Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics.
    18. Qiangmin, XI & Peng, JI, 2023. "Does the development zone promote population urbanization? Evidence from China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    19. Laiqun Jin & Xiuyan Liu & Sam Hak Kan Tang, 2021. "High-Technology Zones, Misallocation of Resources among Cities and Aggregate Productivity: Evidence from China," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 21-11, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    20. Kahn, Matthew E. & Sun, Weizeng & Wu, Jianfeng & Zheng, Siqi, 2021. "Do political connections help or hinder urban economic growth? Evidence from 1,400 industrial parks in China," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:7:p:972-:d:847317. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.