Chinese Shrinking Cities and the State: A Tale of Three Scales

Chinese Shrinking Cities and the State: A Tale of Three Scales

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Jin, Ting
Language:English
Published: The Ohio State University / OhioLINK 2020
Subjects:
Geography
Online Access:http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1587675115878667
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spelling ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-osu15876751158786672021-08-03T07:14:40Z Chinese Shrinking Cities and the State: A Tale of Three Scales Jin, Ting Geography Shrinking cities refer to densely populated urban areas experiencing population losses, economic difficulties, and consequential social problems. Even though shrinking cities have gained increasing attention from policymakers and academic researchers around the world, the stories of urban shrinkage in China have been ignored and obscured by the dazzling urbanization and modernization processes during the past 40 years. Meanwhile, theories and management strategies of urban shrinkage in the western context might not be applicable to Chinese shrinking cities, as urban development in China has been under the influence of an interventionist state, and research on shrinking cities in China is still at its infant stage. The goal of this dissertation research investigates the impact of the state on Chinese shrinking cities at three geographical scales through three studies. The first study is a national-level study, which examines which prefecture-level cities shrank from 2011 to 2015 and the influence of central state interventions on urban shrinkage. This study identifies 76 cities with a declined population and 36 cities that simultaneously suffer from more than 1% population losses and below-average GDP growth. The results of logit regression models show that China is not exceptional in terms of what causes urban shrinkage. The second study examines the phenomenon of urban shrinkage at the regional level, providing a comprehensive analysis of the Northeast Revitalization Strategy (NRS) and assessing the development of Northeast cities under policy efforts. This study finds that from 2003 to present, the emphasis of the NRS has shifted from short term tax release and financial aids to industrial restructuring, and from the public to the private sector. While most Northeast cities enjoyed growth during the first period of the NRS (2003-2009), economic downturn and population losses are evident in the second period (2009-2016). Meanwhile, the intercity inequality of Northeast cities by per capita GDP demonstrates a downward trend. The third study is a local-level ethnographic case study of Anshan, Liaoning Province. This study shows that the story of shrinking cities in China is not simply of abandonment, as giant State Owned Enterprises will not shut down or move away and the retired workers in these cities are protected by a rudimentary but still functioning social security system. It also reveals multiple dimensions of inequality in the process of SOE reform and urban shrinkage, and between the former socialist workers and rural workers. The landscape of Chinese shrinking cities is not featured with housing abandonment but the waiting-for-demolition residential buildings, the put-on-hold construction projects, and the urban space packed with aged residents. Overall, this dissertation finds that the Chinese state’s preferential policies and the dominance of SOEs in urban economies is not the major cause of urban shrinkage in China, but the state and SOEs have a strong influence on how shrinkage is perceived and managed in Chinese shrinking cities. 2020 English text The Ohio State University / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1587675115878667 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1587675115878667 restricted--full text unavailable until 2022-05-13 This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: some rights reserved. It is licensed for use under a Creative Commons license. Specific terms and permissions are available from this document's record in the OhioLINK ETD Center.
collection NDLTD
language English
sources NDLTD
topic Geography
spellingShingle Geography
Jin, Ting
Chinese Shrinking Cities and the State: A Tale of Three Scales
author Jin, Ting
author_facet Jin, Ting
author_sort Jin, Ting
title Chinese Shrinking Cities and the State: A Tale of Three Scales
title_short Chinese Shrinking Cities and the State: A Tale of Three Scales
title_full Chinese Shrinking Cities and the State: A Tale of Three Scales
title_fullStr Chinese Shrinking Cities and the State: A Tale of Three Scales
title_full_unstemmed Chinese Shrinking Cities and the State: A Tale of Three Scales
title_sort chinese shrinking cities and the state: a tale of three scales
publisher The Ohio State University / OhioLINK
publishDate 2020
url http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1587675115878667
work_keys_str_mv AT jinting chineseshrinkingcitiesandthestateataleofthreescales
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