Three Waves of State-led Gentrification in China

Abstract

Gentrification in China, as in any other contexts, is an innate process embedded in the dynamic urban metamorphosis, thus requires a provincialised lens to understand its ‘home grown’ mechanism and periodisation, while not losing sight of the macro politico-economic changes. Hence I propose an analytical framework of ‘state-centred triangular embedment’ to enable a holistic yet nuanced examination of the delicate entanglements of the state, market and society amidst the surging waves of gentrification in China: The first wave of sporadic gentrification in the 1990s, the second wave of widespread gentrification in the 2000s, and the third wave of reactivated gentrification under state-led financialisation after 2010. Gentrification has become an integral part of the making of the modern competitive state in China, joining force with the state’s endeavour in extracting values from land/housing redevelopment through market operation, imposing modern (western) values to its society while intermittently responding to social contestations.