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作者

Ji-gang Bao;Yi Liu;Xun Li

来源

URBAN GEOGRAPHY,Vol.40,Issue4,P.409-427

语言

英文

关键字

Urban spectacles,China,institutional contexts,embeddedness,Asian Games

作者单位

School of Geography and Planning, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China

摘要

Since the mid-1990s, major cities in China have generated a boom in the production of urban spectacles. But existing literature cannot fully explain why these cities are willing and able to participate in these events. This paper documents this boom and argues that the enthusiasm for producing urban spectacles is driven by a strong developmental imperative and sustained by the soft budget constraints of the spectacle organizers – urban governments. These two factors are embedded in the transitional institutional environment of China in relation to power decentralization, central-local fiscal rearrangement and the top-down systems of official evaluation. Embedded in in such a political-economic environment, urban governments generally become ambitious and adventurous in launching pro-growth urban projects. Urban spectacles become one of the pretexts for achieving extraordinary development. This paper reveals this hidden political economy through the case of the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou.KEYWORDS: Urban spectacles, China, institutional contexts, embeddedness, Asian GamesAdditional informationFundingThis work was supported by the National Natural Sciences Foundation of China [41571137]; [41571118]; [41401119]; China National Tourism Administration [14TAAG023].AcknowledgmentsWe would like to thank Associate Professor Shin Hyun Bang, Professor Andrew Thornley and three anonymous referees for their constructive comments and suggestions for completing this paper. We also thank the interviewees for their help during the fieldwork. This work was supported by the National Natural Sciences Foundation of China (Grant: 41571137, 41571118 and 41401119) and China National Tourism Administration (Grant: 14TAAG023).Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.