Suchergebnisse

Five major theoretical issues are assessed in this paper: 1) the role of cities in regional development; 2) the dualistic nature of employment in Asian cities; 3) trans-national capital and urbanisation; 4) socialism and urbanisation; and 5) extended metropolitan regions in Asia. (DSE/DÜI)

Existing studies of the incorporation of climate mitigation into urban governance are concerned overwhelmingly with the material aspects of low-carbon urbanism. Emphasis is placed upon the measurable, quantifiable, and technical characteristics of carbon, whereas the (uneven) leverage of its rhetoric value across different state spaces/scales is largely overlooked. This paper engages with ongoing theoretical enquiries through a study that applies a discursive-analytical perspective to examining the rise of low-carbon cities (LCCs) and the actual practicing of rhetorical decarbonization strategies in Shenzhen, China. The making of the LCC is found to be incentivized by the perceived symbolic value and enabling power of the climate agenda in attracting higher-level government supports, maintaining local collations, and enticing international attention and investment. This enabling power depends on the interpretive flexibility within decarbonization discourse and the manipulation of the discourse to justify involuntary socio-economic changes. Findings of this research call for greater attention paid to the overlooked discursive dimensions of low-carbon urbanism as the constitutive elements of ongoing global urban transformation processes.

Chinese urbanism has long historical roots and has profoundly influenced world civilizations. Yet, the Chinese city has not, until very recently, attracted sustained or intense global attention. In the post-reform era, especially after 1992, the scale and speed of China's urbanization, and the intricacy of its dynamics and socio-spatial consequences have dwarfed those of other countries in the world. The latest reform era of urban China is characterized by a renewed and thriving urbanism, which manifests itself in the sheer scale of new urban space (re)production and the intricate interrelationships among the state, market, and society. The proliferation of new urban spaces signifies the emergence of new mechanisms of space (re)production, which have led to the rise of a new urban spatial order. Here, new urban spaces refer to emerging physical/virtual, social, and cultural spaces that are situated at the confluence of China's recent economic and political liberalization, globalization, and market transition. The term also denotes a general condition of rapid socio-spatial transformation signaling the latest episode of China's urbanization.