Governing Urban Development in China: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Singapore. 25/04/2025.

This event was co-host by Yale-NUS College (based at the National University of Singapore, cooperated between the National University of Singapore and Yale University) and SMU urban Institute at Singapore Management University. The talk was based on Prof. Wu’s new book, Governing Urban Development in China: Critical Urban Studies, co-authored with Prof. Zhang. During the talk, Prof. Wu introduced the concept state entrepreneurialism. The concept suggests that state uses market instruments for statecraft objectives, including economic growth and wider extra-growth targets like industrial upgrade, environment protection, innovation, etc. Prof. Wu advocated that the governance mode of China is not static buy dynamic and constantly evolving, given that the state has changing statecraft objectives concerning multiple spatial scales from local growth to geopolitical ambitions.

The talk attracted a large number of students and staff and led to productive discussions.

Photo from the LinkedIn account of SMU Urban Institute