Capital switching, spatial fix, and the paradigm shifts of China’s urbanization

ABSTRACT

Since the early 2010s, China has experienced an urbanization paradigm shift from quantity-oriented to quality-oriented urbanization. Under different urbanization paradigms, local governments have employed numerous types of urban spaces in order to accumulate capital. If an extant urban space yields negative consequences that might hinder further accumulation of capital, spatial fix and capital switching will occur in accordance with the new urbanization paradigm. This article proposes a theoretical framework aimed at revealing the interconnection among urban paradigm shift, spatial fix, and capital switching. Furthermore, this article conducts the national and urban space scale studies to illustrate this framework. This article not only contributes to a deeper theoretical understanding of urban paradigm shift, spatial fix, and capital switching, but it also contributes to a better understanding of the ways in which different urban spaces function as spatial solutions to sustain capital accumulation at different urbanization stages in China.

KEYWORDS:

• Urbanization paradigm
• capital switching
• spatial fix
• paradigm shift
• spatial transformation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. In the interviewee quotation, the interviewees from the government agencies, the management committee, planning institutes, and enterprises are represented by G, M, P, and E, respectively.

2. Ginkgo Capital is a famous capital investment company, Foxconn is a manufacturing giant, and Alibaba is an e-commerce giant.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [71874154].