IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v6y2017i3p55-d109419.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Central Asian ‘Characteristics’ on China’s New Silk Road: The Role of Landscape and the Politics of Infrastructure

Author

Listed:
  • Troy Sternberg

    (School of Geography, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK)

  • Ariell Ahearn

    (School of Geography, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK)

  • Fiona McConnell

    (School of Geography, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK)

Abstract

China’s $1 trillion One Belt, One Road (OBOR) infrastructure project has significant landscape, socio-economic, and political implications in recipient countries. To date, investigation has focused on Chinese motivation and plans rather than OBOR impact in host nations. This paper examines the programme from the perspective of two Central Asian states—Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan—that are at the heart of OBOR. We identify geographical factors that constrain infrastructure, recognise geopolitical contestation between Russia and China, address historical and cultural factors, and consider issues of institutional capacity and marginality that may be impediments to China’s initiative. The discussion then focuses on how OBOR may play out in Central Asian landscapes and suggests how to conceive and address the unprecedented transformation in the region’s built environment. Critical issues are that OBOR has not been grounded in the physical geography, practical understanding of OBOR’s impacts is missing, and the state-citizen-China nexus remains unexplored. As pivot nations, OBOR implementation in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan will showcase the Chinese programme’s strengths and highlight its weaknesses.

Suggested Citation

  • Troy Sternberg & Ariell Ahearn & Fiona McConnell, 2017. "Central Asian ‘Characteristics’ on China’s New Silk Road: The Role of Landscape and the Politics of Infrastructure," Land, MDPI, vol. 6(3), pages 1-16, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:6:y:2017:i:3:p:55-:d:109419
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/6/3/55/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/6/3/55/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jenn-Jaw Soong, 2016. "The Political Economy of Development Between China and the ASEAN States: Opportunity and Challenge," Chinese Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(6), pages 395-399, November.
    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. Joseph Horrocks-Taylor, 2018. "Dirty Water, Muddied Politics: Hybridisation of Local and National Opposition to Kumtor Mine, Kyrgyzstan," Land, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-18, April.
    2. Troy Sternberg, 2018. "Moderating Climate Hazard Risk through Cooperation in Asian Drylands," Land, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-13, February.
    3. Soraya Caro Vargas, editor, 2020. "Economic Corridors in Asia: Paradigm of Integration? A Reflection for Latin America," Books, Universidad Externado de Colombia, Facultad de Finanzas, Gobierno y Relaciones Internacionales, number 139, April.
    4. Yuanbo Li & Xufeng Zhu, 2019. "The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Latin America and the Caribbean," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-22, April.
    5. Marcin Groszewski & Giuseppe T. Cirella, 2020. "Belt and Road Initiative: Comment," Journal of Applied Management and Investments, Department of Business Administration and Corporate Security, International Humanitarian University, vol. 9(2), pages 63-70, June.

    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. Liu, Haiyun & Islam, Mollah Aminul & Khan, Muhammad Asif & Hossain, Md Ismail & Pervaiz, Khansa, 2020. "Does financial deepening attract foreign direct investment? Fresh evidence from panel threshold analysis," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    2. Mohsen Bahmani-Oskooee & Tatchawan Kanitpong, 2019. "Asymmetric Effects of Exchange Rate Changes on Thailand-China Commodity Trade: Evidence From 45 Industries," Chinese Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(3), pages 203-231, May.
    3. Shufang Wang & Xiao Xue & Axing Zhu & Yuejing Ge, 2017. "The Key Driving Forces for Geo-Economic Relationships between China and ASEAN Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-20, December.

    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:6:y:2017:i:3:p:55-:d:109419. 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.