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Interrogating China’s Global Urban Presence

Wei Zheng, Helen; Bouzarovski, Stefan; Knuth, Sarah; Panteli, Mathaios; Schindler, Seth; Ward, Kevin; Williams, Joe

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Authors

Helen Wei Zheng

Stefan Bouzarovski

Mathaios Panteli

Seth Schindler

Kevin Ward

Joe Williams



Abstract

This paper examines the socio-economic and geopolitical outcomes associated with infrastructure development across multiple scales. Starting from the premise that planetary socio-technical transformations in this vein have distinctly national drivers, we focus on the urban agency of Chinese-led investment. The paper explores how different forms of infrastructural development generated by the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) affects transformations in the political and material fabric of cities and their host regions. We approach BRI-related infrastructural practice through three interconnected optics – discourse, instruments, and politics – so as to interrogate the articulation of projects linked to the BRI within the material site of the urban. Based on theorisations of infrastructure from an urban perspective and a critical review of literature on the BRI itself, we develop three illustrative case studies at different spatial scales and within different geographic contexts – in Pakistan, Central Europe and the UK. To examine the cases as well as their embeddedness in broader debates on the topic, we use a systematic review methodology relying on a wide variety of sources. We offer comparative and relational perspectives on the manner in which these relatively diverse cases demonstrate China’s role as a global urban actor.

Citation

Wei Zheng, H., Bouzarovski, S., Knuth, S., Panteli, M., Schindler, S., Ward, K., & Williams, J. (2023). Interrogating China’s Global Urban Presence. Geopolitics, 28(1), 310-332. https://doi.org/10.1080/14650045.2021.1901084

Journal Article Type Article
Online Publication Date Mar 22, 2021
Publication Date 2023
Deposit Date May 10, 2021
Publicly Available Date Sep 22, 2022
Journal Geopolitics
Print ISSN 1465-0045
Electronic ISSN 1557-3028
Publisher Taylor and Francis Group
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 28
Issue 1
Pages 310-332
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/14650045.2021.1901084

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