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Constructing Utopias: China's New Town Movement in the 21st Century

Online ISBN:
9780197793336
Print ISBN:
9780197793299
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
Book

Constructing Utopias: China's New Town Movement in the 21st Century

Published online:
23 April 2025
Published in print:
16 June 2025
Online ISBN:
9780197793336
Print ISBN:
9780197793299
Publisher:
Oxford University Press

Abstract

Amid its groundbreaking political reforms and the “largest mass migration ever seen in human history,” China created over 3,800 new towns to accommodate its burgeoning urban population and sustain economic growth. Economic marketization, global trade, intercity competition, and the exponentially growing real estate industry have driven tremendous investment in infrastructure and large-scale developments, stimulating continuous urban expansion. Surpassing any urbanization initiatives in history, contemporary Chinese new towns emerged as the national campaign to reimagine Chinese cities while reshaping the global geo-economic landscape. Constructing Utopias examines four decades of Chinese urbanization through the lenses of urbanism and utopianism. After exploring the theoretical foundations and historical precedents of new town development, the book delves into a series of “model new towns” that showcase innovative planning, design, technologies, policies, and China’s broader vision for a modern urban nation. Case studies of the Suzhou Industrial Park, One City, and Nine Towns in Shanghai, prototypical eco-cities, and the notorious “ghost towns” form the core of this book, highlighting fundamental issues in urbanization, including economic vitality, cultural identity, environmental sustainability, and socio-spatial dynamics. The author scrutinizes these new towns not only as grand visions of governments, planners, and developers but also as physical spaces embodying the struggles and aspirations of residents and migrant workers. By examining both the successes and failures of Chinese new town planning and development, this book illuminates the complex interplay between space production and social transformation within the context of neoliberalism and globalization.

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