Promotion-driven local states and governing cities in action—re-reading China's urban entrepreneurialism from a local perspective

《Promotion-driven local states and governing cities in action—re-reading China's urban entrepreneurialism from a local perspective》

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作者: Jie Guo

来源: URBAN GEOGRAPHY,Vol.41,Issue2,P.225-246

语言: 英文

关键字: Urban transformation,local entrepreneurialism,competitive promotion,performance-seeking,China

作者单位: Guangdong Open Laboratory of Geospatial Information Technology and Application, Guangzhou Institute of Geography , Guangzhou, China

摘要: This article examines local entrepreneurialism and the governance logic of local states under China’s cadre assessment mechanism. By highlighting the ubiquitous performance competition and promotion pressure faced by local officials, it argues that building performance and seeking promotion during the tenure are the internal impulses for Chinese local states and their leaders to pursue entrepreneurialism. In China’s politico-institutional soil, therefore, entrepreneurial actions are not necessarily designed to enhance local attractiveness and competitiveness in the global market, but serve as a means for local officials to accumulate political capital and pursue career advancement. Lanzhou’s urban renewal is used as a case to illustrate how city leaders advance individual careers through entrepreneurialism. By interpreting the impact of cadre assessment mechanism on local governance, the study sheds light on the ubiquitous inter-scalar politics in China. It also enriches our understanding of China’s urban entrepreneurialism by revealing the political intent behind local governance actions. KEYWORDS: Urban transformationlocal entrepreneurialismcompetitive promotionperformance-seekingChina Acknowledgements The author would like to thank the editor and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and suggesions, and also thank those who helped in the field trip in Lanzhou in 2013. All errors remain mine. Disclosure statement No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author. Additional informationFundingThis study was supported by GDAS’ Project of Science and Technology Development (2016GDASRC-0101; 2017GDASCX-0101).