From entrepreneurial to managerial statecraft: New trends of urban governance transformation in post-pandemic China

Fulong Wu, Handuo Deng, Yi Feng, Weikai Wang, Ying Wang and Fangzhu Zhang
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Fulong Wu: University College London, UK
Handuo Deng: University College London, UK
Yi Feng: Nanjing University, China
Weikai Wang: University of Liverpool, UK
Ying Wang: University of Sheffield, UK
Fangzhu Zhang: University College London, UK

Urban Studies, 2025, vol. 62, issue 15, 3092-3109

Abstract: The global financial crisis started a new context of late capitalism and austerity urbanism. Instead of a unidirectional governance transformation towards entrepreneurialism, rising finance and financialisation, pervasive state roles in state capitalism and post-growth municipal radicalism are competing trends. Previously, China witnessed private entrepreneurship, economic devolution, and housing commodification at the turn of the millennium. They have been portrayed as urban or state entrepreneurialism. These governance features were transformed as China entered Xi Jinping’s new era. This paper revisits the transformations in post-pandemic China and finds that rising state capital, re-centralisation of spatial governance and party-state co-governance represent the shift from entrepreneurial to managerial statecraft. The new trends broadly echo changing capital–state–society relationships in the world today. Beyond market rationality, the state mobilises capital and society to pursue strategic intentionality. The transformation has been exacerbated by pandemic urgency, post-pandemic economic downturn and greater geopolitical tension.

Keywords: China; entrepreneurialism; state capitalism; statecraft; urban governance; 中国; 创业精神; 国家资本主义; 治国方略; åŸŽå¸‚æ²»ç † (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:62:y:2025:i:15:p:3092-3109

DOI: 10.1177/00420980251333304

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