Peri-urbanism in Globalizing China: A Study of New Urbanism in Dongguan

Abstract

This study examines "peri-urbanism" (urban growth in regions surrounding or between major metropolitan centers) in post-Mao China, based on detailed study of Dongguan in the Pearl River Delta. Conditions facilitating peri-urbanism and influencing its location include relaxed state control over population mobility; spontaneous, bottom-up expansion of rural industry; and spread of global capitalism. The paper also investigates roles played by entrepreneurial local government, kinship ties/personal connections with overseas investors, collective land ownership, and access to capital, technology, and information from nearby metropolitan centers. The author presents evidence that peri-urbanism is a hybrid, path-dependent, and locally constitutive process. 8 figures, 4 tables, 57 references. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: F21, J61, O15, O18, R52.

Keywords:

• urbanism
• peri-urban region
• urbanization
• globalization
• China