Introducing the institutional and cultural perspective to Chinese urban studies

Sun Sheng Han () and Ning Yan ()

Chapter 1 in Institutions, Culture and the Chinese City, 2025, pp 1-14 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This introductory chapter outlines what we know about the post-1949 urbanisation trajectories in China, what remains unknown in Chinese urban studies, and what needs further research to understand the uniqueness of the Chinese city. Through a concise yet critical assessment of the dramatic urbanisation experiences characterised by counter-urbanisation, urban stagnation, rural urbanisation and explosive land-centred modernisation of Chinese cities, the chapter summarises the relevance of anti-urban ideologies, policy control over urban development and economic liberalisation in explaining the Chinese characteristics of urban development. This analysis reveals a missing link that connects Chinese urban experiences with indigenous institutions and culture, addressing the following questions: Why does China consistently produce distinctive urban development models? How do the different post-1949 urban experiences relate to one another? What are the necessary conditions underpinning the most recent experiences of the remarkable modernisation of Chinese cities? This chapter introduces an institutional and cultural lens to examine urban changes. It highlights the importance of the historical, political and cognitive contexts in which China's post-1949 leaders rose and fell, along with their national development policies and the impact on Chinese cities. These considerations define the book structure, starting with an examination of the origins of institutions, culture and Chinese cities in the pre-1949 period and proceeding to detailed interrogations of the post-1949 urban experiences shaped by decision-makers and their strategies, the level of inclusiveness of the political and economic systems and the cultures of the populace and cadres. The chapter concludes with summaries of the main chapters.

Keywords: Counter-urbanisation; Rural urbanisation; Land-centred urbanisation; Extractive and inclusive institutions; Populace and cadres’ cultures; The Chinese city (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035312429
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