(De-)Activating the growth machine for redevelopment

31st Oct 2017

(De-)Activating the growth machine for redevelopment: The case of Liede urban village in Guangzhou

A new paper by Youliang Guo, Chengguo Zhang, Ya Ping Wang, et al is now available online.

This paper is part of a forthcoming Special Issue entitled "People and plans in urbanising China"

Abstract

This research investigates the mechanism of urban village redevelopment in south China. Through a revised typology of place entrepreneurs based on the growth machine thesis and a case study of Liede village in central Guangzhou, it illustrates how land-based interests embedded in an imbalanced power relationship can (de-)activate urban village redevelopment. The study reveals that while urban villagers, as represented by the village collective, have entrenched interests in the redevelopment process, the city government – as monopolistic land manager and place entrepreneur – plays the deciding role in forging and halting a growth machine geared towards urban village redevelopment. Although developers are also part of the process, the (de-)activation of redevelopment growth machine/coalition in Guangzhou has largely been dominated by the city government. With a comparative view on the original growth machine model, it is hoped that this study would furnish both theoretical and practical thoughts for future research.

You can access and read the full paper here