New Town Development and Sustainable Transition under Urban Entrepreneurialism in China

Yun Song, Dominic Stead and Martin de Jong
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Yun Song: Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, Delft University of Technology, 2628 BX Delft, The Netherlands
Dominic Stead: Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, Delft University of Technology, 2628 BL Delft, The Netherlands
Martin de Jong: Rotterdam School of Management and Erasmus School of Law, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 3062 PA Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 12, 1-20

Abstract: New towns are a major form of urban growth in China. In recent years, increasing numbers of large new town projects have been planned and built in and around existing cities. These new town projects have frequently been employed by city governments as central elements of pro-growth strategies, based on ideas of urban entrepreneurialism, which seek to promote economic growth, project a dynamic city image, and increase urban competitiveness. This article studies how the pro-growth, urban entrepreneurial approach affects the planning and development of Chinese megacities. A conceptual framework focusing on land-leasing revenue and new town development strategies is employed to explore the linkages between urban growth mechanisms and urban outcomes. Empirical material from four cities in the Pearl River Delta—Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan, and Zhuhai—is presented. The analysis indicates that new town developments in these cities have different levels of dependency on spatial expansion and land revenue, and emphasize different issues of sustainable development in their plans. Cities with a lower dependency on physical and economic growth are be more likely to emphasize the quality of the built environment and address issues of sustainable urban development more closely when planning and implementing new town projects.

Keywords: new town development; urban entrepreneurialism; land-driven economy; Pearl River Delta (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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