Recasting urban–rural interconnection beyond growth: entrepreneurial governance of land redevelopment in Chengdu, China

• In Event: 20481 - Section on Sociology of Development Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 3. Markets & Economic Development

Abstract

The existing literature understands the urban–rural interconnection and uneven development in the context of the imperative of growth in the urbanization process, as rural land is operationalized to support accumulation based on land rent in urban regions. The present study applies the analytical framework of entrepreneurial governance to examine the state actors’ pursuit of extra-economic goals in urban and rural governance, their deployment of entrepreneurial toolkits, and the urban–rural links that have emerged from the process. Specifically, the study examines rural construction land redevelopment (rental housing construction on collective land program) in a village in River District, Chengdu, and the concurrent process of eco-city construction in the district’s urban core. It is found that the entrepreneurial tools for rural land governance (shareholding and infrastructure financing) were deployed by the district government to solve legitimacy crises arising from eco-city construction and to increase borrowing capacity in support of infrastructure financing in eco-city transformation. Contrary to the central state’s goal of urban–rural integration and rural welfare promotion, the redevelopment program inflicts detriments on the village collective in the form of heavy debts and marginalization in decision-making, ultimately deepening the urban–rural divide and reinforcing uneven development. The study calls for attention to the urban–rural interconnection beyond the focus on land enclosure and physical occupation of land, more specifically, to the symbolic and financial exploitation of rural land in support of urban experiments.

Author

• Yue Du, Tsinghua University