Book Launch of ‘Governing Urban Development in China’. London, UK. 19/03/2025.

The event was chaired by Professor Fangzhu Zhang. Professor Fulong Wu introduced the book. The book comprehensively summarises urban governance features in contemporary China in different aspects, such as the financing of urban development, environmental governance, innovation, neighbourhood governance, and others. It proposes the concept of state entrepreneurialism to explain such features. The concept suggests that the Chinese state plays a crucial role in governing urban development based on its strategic goals. The book is suitable for academic researchers at different levels, policy makers, and wider audience who would like to learn about urban governance in China.

Then, two panellists, including Professor Chris Hamnett from King’s College London, and Professor Hyun Bang Shin from London School of Economics and Political Science, shared their thoughts on the book. Professor Hamnett is Emeritus Professor of Geography at King’s College London. He commented on the book based on his research experience related to China, which could be traced back to the late 1980s. He shared his thoughts on the role of the Chinese state in urban governance and agreed with the perspectives proposed by the book. He also compared China with Western contexts such as the UK and the US and briefly reviewed the similarities and differences. He strongly recommended the audience to read the book.

Professor Shin is Professor of Geography and Urban Studies and the Head of the Department of Geography and Environment at London School of Economics and Political Science. He also commented on the book based on his research expertise, as his PhD reserach focused on China. He now also explores the governance model of China urban development. He compared the concept of state entrepreneurialism and the concept he recently proposed with his colleagues, named entrepreneurial neo-managerialism, which is proposed based on revisiting the concept of state entrepreneurialism. His comments engaged deeply with the book and brought research insights.

After the comments, the professors led an open discussion by answering the questions from the audience. The discussion concerned different aspects in and beyond academia, helping the audience to learn more about the details from different perspectives.

The book is free downloadable here.