Planning as A Victim of Its Own Success: A Sympathetic Critique of State Entrepreneurialism.

Keywords: State entrepreneurialism; urban entrepreneurialism; state restructing; public-private partnership; China
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Sunday
Session Start / End Time: 2/27/2022 02:00 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/27/2022 03:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 6

Abstract

This paper offers a sympathetic critique of the state entrepreneurialism approach, contrasting its strengths and weaknesses in explaining the governance of urbanization in China. Two major themes run throughout the analysis. The first concerns the relationship between the state and the market, and the second concerns entrepreneurship as a driver of economic prosperity. In this paper, I argue that the concept of state entrepreneurship successfully offers an alternative reading of the state-market relationship through the observation of Chinese cities' flexible and innovative (re)planning process. However, this approach tends to exaggerate the decisive role of planning in guiding local urbanization, without being explicit about the nature of its problems. Methodologically, this approach risks conflating entrepreneurship with change, thereby failing to identify the necessary innovations from contingent modifications. The empirical part of this paper draws on first- and second-hand material from the small city of Jiyuan in central China.