Participatory Redevelopment as Contested Arenas in China

Participatory Redevelopment as Contested Arenas in China

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English | June 9, 2026 | ISBN-10: 981959393X | 238 pages| Epub PDF (True) | 13 MB

Why do participatory reforms in authoritarian settings so often recentre, rather than diffuse, power? And how do institutional rules and the distribution of resources channel participatory initiatives toward outcomes that ultimately reinforce state dominance?
This book addresses these questions through an in-depth examination of participatory urban redevelopment in China. Traditional redevelopment institutions, long characterized by top-down state control and the exclusion of residents, generated widespread public resistance and social instability. In response, the Chinese state introduced participatory reforms that formally incorporated residents into decision-making processes, aiming to mitigate opposition to forced lition, inadequate compensation, and escalating social tensions. While these reforms reshaped procedures and institutional mechanisms, their deeper effects on power relations remain poorly understood.
Building on Giddens’ structuration theory, Foucault’s conception of power, and Ostrom’s Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework, the book develops a power arena framework to examine how rules and resources structure interactions among stakeholders and shape the distribution of power in participatory urban redevelopment.