Description
With the increasing recognition of state spatial selectivity and state rescaling, urban development policies in China have progressively concentrated on developing new towns on the urban fringe, guided by municipal strategic planning. These new areas feature advanced infrastructure and high-quality public services to attract investment and talent. Nevertheless, this expansion has largely overlooked the impact on longstanding peri-urban ‘peripheral towns’ that evolved from rural settlements, which are disadvantaged in regional competition and frequently excluded from municipal supportive policies and financial incentives. This study posits that intra-urban interregional equity should be emphasised alongside the ‘state-local’ discourse in Chinese urban studies. It underscores the need to investigate the impact of metropolitanisation on peripheral towns and local communities. By comparing the Gaoling District of Xi'an and the Airport New City of the Xi’an-Xianyang New Area, this study highlights how central state metropolitanisation proposals and local entrepreneurial governance in western/second-tier cities lacking robust regional production contexts affect urban space. The findings reveal that municipal decisions, driven by political achievements, result in intra-urban resource and policy discrimination, exacerbating cross-regional inequities. The study advocates for greater stability in the governance of urban fringe territories, as opposed to uncontrolled reshaping.| Period | 24 Mar 2025 |
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| Event title | American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting |
| Event type | Conference |
| Location | Detroit, United StatesShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |