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Spatial Production and Governance of Urban Agglomeration in China 2000–2015: Yangtze River Delta as a Case

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Listed:
  • Chao Ye

    (Faculty of Education & School of Geographic Sciences, Shanghai Municipal Institute for Lifelong Education, Shanghai Key Laboratory for Urban Ecological Process and Eco-restoration & Institute of Eco-Chongming, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China)

  • Zhaojing Liu

    (Faculty of Education & School of Geographic Sciences, Shanghai Municipal Institute for Lifelong Education, Shanghai Key Laboratory for Urban Ecological Process and Eco-restoration & Institute of Eco-Chongming, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China)

  • Wenbo Cai

    (School of Environmental Sciences, University of Hull, Hull HU6 7RX, UK)

  • Ruishan Chen

    (Faculty of Education & School of Geographic Sciences, Shanghai Municipal Institute for Lifelong Education, Shanghai Key Laboratory for Urban Ecological Process and Eco-restoration & Institute of Eco-Chongming, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China)

  • Liangliang Liu

    (School of Resource and Earth Science, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China)

  • Yongli Cai

    (School of Ecological and Environmental Science, Shanghai Key Laboratory for Urban Ecological Process and Eco-restoration, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China)

Abstract

Urban agglomeration plays an essential role in world urbanization. Urban agglomerations in developing countries like China, although have the same characteristics as the developed countries because of globalization, often show a more different and dynamic process. Urban agglomerations in China are generally dominated and planned as a mode of organizing and improving urbanization by the Chinese government; however, in different regions, urban agglomeration has different trajectories based on a different historical and geographical context. The paper applies a new social theory, production of space, into explaining the development and governance of urban agglomeration in China, which is effective and meaningful to help understand the developmental process of urban agglomeration and urbanization. The theory of spatial production focuses on the relation between society and space, in which ‘society’ has a broad meaning and can be divided into three factors or parts: power, capital, and class. This paper chooses YRD (the Yangtze River Delta) as a typical case and designs a simple index system to reflect the influences of these three factors on urban agglomeration. The governance of urban agglomeration will be indicated by national or regional policies analysis. According to such a synthesis method of index assessment, GIS (Geographic Information System), and policies analysis, we find Chinese urban agglomeration is a capital-intensive region, and the national policies tend to regard it as an intensive investment object. Planning and governance from top-down power have more influence than the market in the evolving process of urban agglomeration. There is a contradiction between spatial production and people-oriented urbanization, with the latter more important than the former, but China’s urbanization often emphasizes the former. It is high time to link the techniques and methods such as GIS to the social theories like the production of space in urban studies.

Suggested Citation

  • Chao Ye & Zhaojing Liu & Wenbo Cai & Ruishan Chen & Liangliang Liu & Yongli Cai, 2019. "Spatial Production and Governance of Urban Agglomeration in China 2000–2015: Yangtze River Delta as a Case," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-17, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:5:p:1343-:d:210809
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Huailin Zhang & Zhibin Zhang & Jianhong Dong & Fawen Gao & Wenbin Zhang & Weimin Gong, 2020. "Spatial production or sustainable development? An empirical research on the urbanization of less-developed regions based on the case of Hexi Corridor in China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(7), pages 1-17, July.
    2. Guoping Xiong & Xin Cao & Nicholas A. S. Hamm & Tao Lin & Guoqin Zhang & Binghong Chen, 2021. "Unbalanced Development Characteristics and Driving Mechanisms of Regional Urban Spatial Form: A Case Study of Jiangsu Province, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-39, March.
    3. Simeng Li & Zhimin Liu & Chao Ye, 2022. "Community Renewal under Multi-Stakeholder Co-Governance: A Case Study of Shanghai’s Inner City," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-18, May.
    4. Rong Wu & Yongli Zhang & Meilin Dai & Qingyin Li & Changlong Sun, 2023. "The Heterogeneity of the Drivers of Urban Form in China: Perspectives from Regional Disparities and Development Stage Variations," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-20, July.
    5. Min Liu & Jianpeng Fan & Yating Wang & Chanjuan Hu, 2021. "Study on Ecosystem Service Value (ESV) Spatial Transfer in the Central Plains Urban Agglomeration in the Yellow River Basin, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-27, September.

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