Organizers:
The Working Group on "Urban Transformation in China and
Reorganization of the State in an Era of Globalization", Urban
China Research Network, State University of New York at Albany
Centre for China Urban and Regional Studies, Hong Kong Baptist
University
Department of Geography, Hong Kong Baptist University
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Cover of the Conference Proceeding |
Preliminary Program of the International Conference on Globalization, the State, and Urban Transformation in China |
Conference Secretariat:
Centre for China Urban and Regional Studies
c/o
Department of Geography
Hong Kong Baptist University
Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong
Email: curs@hkbu.edu.hk
Fax: (852) 3411-5990
Tele: (852) 3411-5061
The Conference:
This is an international conference on urban change and state
reorganization in China. It welcomes scholars from all disciplinary
backgrounds to submit abstracts for papers on contemporary approaches to
theorizing urban change and state transformation informed by current
debates on state theory, political economy of globalization, and the
project to theorize scale relations. The conference will feature
sessions devoted to assessing the suitability of these approaches and
others for the Chinese case. Two keynote addresses from leading
theorists in these fields will distinguish the two and half day
conference program.
The reorganization of the
state in contemporary China maps on to transformations in the urban
administrative hierarchy at all scales, from the national center to
provincial capitals, counties, and towns. The state has designated many
new cities under reform, and they have been given new and more powers to
decide local development. As they oversee transformation of the local
space economy, these places also act as centers of articulation with
larger scale national and global processes. Many existing cities have
also enlarged, and administer former rural areas. So as China's economy
transforms, the country is also in the process of urbanizing and
reorganizing its urban administrative institutions, concerning housing,
health services, and more - many of the former functions of the danwei
(work unit). The conference is devoted to assessing interrelations among
these dynamic topics and how to understand them theoretically.
Specific topics of analysis
include:
(i) theorizing Chinese urbanization, state power, and urban governance
through changes in the urban administrative hierarchy;
(ii) the role and power of large cities; and
(iii) interrelations among cities of different sizes in the same region,
such as the Pearl River and Yangzi River deltas.
In relation to the larger project to theorize scale relation - which has
evolved largely in the context of research on Europe and North America -
the conference serves as a forum for assessing the use of scale
relations as a framework for understanding the dynamics of the urban
administrative hierarchy and state power in China. How is scale
relations useful for understanding territorial formation and spatial
processes in China's political economy, past and present?
The empirical contexts of
urban transformation and state reorganization, in new provincial-level
power, municipal and district planning bureaus, development zones,
housing, the danwei, and diverse related subjects, are equally
welcome topics. Interdisciplinary approaches and perspectives will
prevail as a basis for comparative discussion and cross-fertilization in
theory building.
Registration Fee:
Registration fee is USD150, including the Conference printed materials, three lunches and two Conference dinner.
Accommodation (Available at):
Ng Tor Tai International House, Hong Kong Baptist University, @ HKD330 (equivalent to USD43) per night per room.