TY - JOUR
T1 - Urban Entrepreneurialism and Sustainable Development
T2 - A Comparative Analysis of Chinese Eco-Developments
AU - Xie, Linjun
AU - Cheshmehzangi, Ali
AU - Tan-Mullins, May
AU - Flynn, Andrew
AU - Heath, Tim
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, © 2019 The Society of Urban Technology.
PY - 2020/1/2
Y1 - 2020/1/2
N2 - In recent years, state entrepreneurialism and the notion of (urban) sustainability have become ever more closely intertwined in China and there has been a proliferation of eco-/low-carbon and other similar sustainability-themed urban initiatives that have helped local states to achieve a favorable position in city competitions. Nevertheless, existing studies do not explain why Chinese sustainability projects are planned/implemented with divergent emphases and different development trajectories. Through three Chinese flagship projects, the real-estate-centric Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City (SSTEC), the environmental-construction-led Chongming Eco-Islands (CEIs), and the industrial development-focused Shenzhen International Low-Carbon City (ILCC), we argue that the formulation and implementation of urban sustainable developments are subject to local particularities and different extra-local political-economic contexts. We highlight how both vertical administrative governance and horizontal coordination between territorial jurisdictions underlie the Chinese entrepreneurial planning system, which results in different types of urban entrepreneurships: (1) scalable startup urban entrepreneurship (SSTEC); (2) asset-replacement urban entrepreneurship (CEIs); and (3) urban expansion entrepreneurship (ILCC). This study also reveals that all three cases experience a development paradox as they strive to reconcile mutually competing economic and environmental imperatives.
AB - In recent years, state entrepreneurialism and the notion of (urban) sustainability have become ever more closely intertwined in China and there has been a proliferation of eco-/low-carbon and other similar sustainability-themed urban initiatives that have helped local states to achieve a favorable position in city competitions. Nevertheless, existing studies do not explain why Chinese sustainability projects are planned/implemented with divergent emphases and different development trajectories. Through three Chinese flagship projects, the real-estate-centric Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City (SSTEC), the environmental-construction-led Chongming Eco-Islands (CEIs), and the industrial development-focused Shenzhen International Low-Carbon City (ILCC), we argue that the formulation and implementation of urban sustainable developments are subject to local particularities and different extra-local political-economic contexts. We highlight how both vertical administrative governance and horizontal coordination between territorial jurisdictions underlie the Chinese entrepreneurial planning system, which results in different types of urban entrepreneurships: (1) scalable startup urban entrepreneurship (SSTEC); (2) asset-replacement urban entrepreneurship (CEIs); and (3) urban expansion entrepreneurship (ILCC). This study also reveals that all three cases experience a development paradox as they strive to reconcile mutually competing economic and environmental imperatives.
KW - Urban sustainable development
KW - eco-city
KW - low-carbon city
KW - state entrepreneurialism
KW - urban planning
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85075133874&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/10630732.2019.1680940
DO - 10.1080/10630732.2019.1680940
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85075133874
SN - 1063-0732
VL - 27
SP - 3
EP - 26
JO - Journal of Urban Technology
JF - Journal of Urban Technology
IS - 1
ER -
