Course Syllabus

January 17      Introduction and resources

 

January 24      Situating Chinese Urbanism

Wu, Weiping and Piper Gaubatz. 2020. The Chinese City.

• Introduction

Logan, John and Susan Fainstein. 2008. “Introduction: Urban China in Comparative Perspective,” in John Logan, ed, Urban China in Transition. Wiley-Blackwell, p. 1-23.

Friedmann, John. 2006. “Four Theses in the Study of China’s Urbanization.“ International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 30, 2 (June): 440-451.

Hamnett, Chris. 2020. “Is Chinese Urbanism Unique?” In “New Directions of Urban Studies in China,” edited by Fulong Wu and Fangzhu Zhang, special issue, Urban Studies 57 (3): 690–700.

Discussion leader: Luke

 

January 31      Urbanization and the role of policy

Wu, Weiping and Piper Gaubatz. 2020. The Chinese City.

• Chapter 4 Urbanization since 1949
• Chapter 7 Governing the City

World Bank and China Development Research Center. 2014. “Achievements and Emerging Challenges,” in Urban China: Toward Efficient, Inclusive, and Sustainable Urbanization. Part I Overview, p. 5-15 (Chapters 1 and 2).

Chan, Kam Wing. 2010. “Fundamentals of China’s Urbanization and Policy.” The China Review 10, 1: 63-94.

Discussion leader: Katherine

 

February 7      Migration and bifurcated urban population

Wu, Weiping and Piper Gaubatz. 2020. The Chinese City.

• Chapter 5 Migration and Population Mobility
• Chapter 11 Social-Spatial Transformation

Chan, Kam Wing and Yanning Wei. 2019. “Two systems in one country: the origin, functions, and mechanisms of the rural-urban dual system in China.” Eurasian Geography and Economics 60, 4: 422-454.

Huang, Youqin and Setha Low. 2008. “Is Gating Always Exclusionary? A Comparative Analysis of Gated Communities in American and Chinese Cities,” in John Logan, ed, Urban China in Transition. Wiley-Blackwell, p. 182-202.

Discussion leader: Haoxiangyu

 

February 14   No class

 

February 21   Urban land and housing markets (9-11am in 408 Avery)

Wu, Weiping and Piper Gaubatz. 2020. The Chinese City.

• Chapter 8 Land Markets and Management
• Chapter 10 Urban Housing

World Bank and China Development Research Center. 2014. “China’s Urbanization and Land: A Framework for Reform,” in Urban China: Toward Efficient, Inclusive, and Sustainable Urbanization. Part II Supporting Reports, p. 263-284.

Xu, Jiang. 2018. “Land and Housing Markets,” in The SAGE Handbook of Contemporary China, edited by Weiping Wu and Mark Frazier, 898–919. London: SAGE Publications Ltd.

Discussion leader: Alan, Stacey

 

February 21    Land finance and impacts on urban form (regular class time)

(Book synopsis due)

Wu, Weiping. 2022. "Paying for Urbanization: Land Finance and Impacts," in Weiping Wu and Qin Gao, eds., China Urbanizing: Impacts and Transitions. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, p. 16-37.

Wu, Fulong. 2022. “Land financialisation and the financing of urban development in China.” Land Use Policy112: 1-10.

Liu, Yong, et al. 2018. “Impacts of land finance on urban sprawl in China: The case of Chongqing.” Land Use Policy 72: 420-432.

Woodworth, Max D. 2015. “Ordos Municipality: A Market-Era Resource Boomtown.” Cities 43: 115-132.

Discussion leader: Zekun

Book synopsis:

• China’s Urban Communities: Concepts, Contexts, and Well-Being (Maxine)     

 

February 28    Infrastructure and public finance

(Book synopsis presentations)

Wu, Weiping and Piper Gaubatz. 2020. The Chinese City.

• Chapter 9 Urban Infrastructure

Wu, Fulong. 2021. The long shadow of the state: Financializing the Chinese city. Urban Geography, prepublished.

Liu, Tingting and Suzanne Wilkinson 2013. “Can the pilot public-private partnerships project be applied in future urban rail development?: A case study of Beijing Metro Line 4 project.” Built Environment Project and Asset Management 3, 2: 250-263.

Jiang, Yanpeng and Paul Waley. 2020. “Who Builds Cities in China? How Urban Investment and Development Companies Have Transformed Shanghai.” International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 44, 4: 636–651.

Discussion leader: Jillian, Maxine

Book synopsis: 

• Chinese Railways in the Era of High-Speed (Chris)
• The Chinese Real Estate Market: Development, Regulation and Investment (Alan)

 

March 7          Sino-Africa Infrastructure Development

Guest lecture by Prof. Yuan Wang

International Relations, Duke Kunshan University

Wang, Yuan. (2022). “Presidential extraversion: Understanding the politics of Sino-African mega-infrastructure projects.” World Development 158, prepublished.

Goodfellow, Tom and Zhengli Huang. 2022. “Manufacturing Urbanism: Improvising the Urban–Industrial Nexus through Chinese Economic Zones in Africa.” Urban Studies 59, 7 (May): 1459–80.

 

Note: this class will start at 7pm (not 3pm) on Zoom. 

https://columbiauniversity.zoom.us/j/4937711023?pwd=NDhXT1QvMFkyanNnVU94ZTdRRkZpUT09

Meeting ID: 493 771 1023

Passcode: weiping

One tap mobile: +16468769923,,4937711023#,,,,*752501# US (New York)

Discussion leader: Chris (?)

 

March 14        NO CLASS - SPRING BREAK

 

March 21        Presentations on issue paper 1

(Issue paper 1 due)

 

March 28        Role of planning and planners

(Book synopsis presentations)

Wu, Fulong, Fangzhu Zhang, and Zheng Wang. 2015. Planning China’s Future: How China plans for growth and development. RTPI Research Report no. 12, December.

Perlstein, Andrew and Leonard Ortolano. 2015. “Urban Growth in China: Evolution in the Role of Urban Planners.” Journal of Planning Education and Research 35, 4: 435-443.

Feng, Xin and Kiera Chapman. 2020. “The tiger’s leap’: The role of history in legitimating the authority of modern Chinese planners.” Urban Studies 57, 13: 2681–2696.

International Planning Case Studies Project. 2015. Better but not best: Incremental improvements and bus rapid transit planning Jinan, China.

Discussion leader: Ted 

Book synopsis:

• Urban Regeneration in China: Institutional Innovation of Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Shanghai (Ricky, Zekun)

 

April 4             Governance in comparative contexts

Guest lecture by Prof. Mark Frazier

Chair of Department of Politics and Co-Director of China India Institute, New School

Author of The Power of Place: Contentious Politics in Twentieth Century Shanghai and Bombay. Cambridge University Press, 2019.

Wu, Fulong and Fanzhu Zhang. 2022. “Rethinking China’s urban governance: The role of the state in neighbourhoods, cities and regions.” Progress in Human Geography 46, 3: 775–797.

Tang, Beibei. 2020. “Grid Governance in China's Urban Middle-class Neighbourhoods.” The China Quarterly 241: 43-61.

Weinstein, Lisa and Xuefei Ren. 2009. “The Changing Right to the City: Urban Renewal and Housing Rights in Globalizing Shanghai and Mumbai.” City & Community 8, 4: 407-432.

Frazier, Mark. 2022. "The challenges of China–India comparative urban studies." International Journal of Asian Studies 19, 2: 319-332.

Discussion leader: Ricky 

Book synopsis:

• The Government Next Door: Neighborhood Politics in Urban China (Katherine, Yiyi)

 

April 11           Planning with climate change

(Book synopsis presentations)

Remais, Justin. 2022. “Shifting Exposures in China’s Urbanization Experience: Implications for Health,” in Weiping Wu and Qin Gao, eds., China Urbanizing: Impacts and Transitions. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, p. 188-204.

Wang, Xiaoxiao, Ruiting Shi, and Ying Zhou. 2020. “Dynamics of urban sprawl and sustainable development in China.” Socio-Economic Planning Sciences 70: 100736.

Kan, Har Ye, Ann Forsyth, and Peter Rowe. 2017. “Redesigning China’s Superblock Neighbourhoods: Policies, Opportunities and Challenges.” Journal of Urban Design 22, 6 (June): 757–777.

Li, Yunjing and George C.S. Lin. 2022. “The Making of Low-Carbon Urbanism: Climate Change, Discursive Strategy and Rhetorical Decarbonization in Chinese Cities.” Environment & Planning C: Politics and Space, prepublished.

Discussion leader: Rob

Book synopsis:

• Blue Skies over Beijing: Economic Growth and the Environment in China (Ted)
• Ghost Cities of China: The Story of Cities without People in the World's Most Populated Country (Stacey)
• Housing Affordability and Housing Policy in Urban China (Jillian)

 

April 18           Cities under pandemic

(Book synopsis presentations)

Liu, Zhilin, Sainan Lin, Tingting Lu, Yue Shen, and Sisi Liang. 2022. “Towards a constructed order of co-governance: Understanding the state–society dynamics of neighbourhood collaborative responses to COVID-19 in urban China.” Urban Studies, prepublished.

Li, Lingyue, Surong Zhang, Jinfeng Wang, Xiaoming Yang, and Lan Wang. 2021. “Governing public health emergencies during the coronavirus disease outbreak: Lessons from four Chinese cities in the first wave.” Urban Studies, prepublished.

Ren, Xuefei. 2020. “Pandemic and lockdown: a territorial approach to COVID-19 in China, Italy and the United States.” Eurasian Geography and Economics, prepublished.

You, Heyuan, Xin Wu, and Xuxu Guo. 2020. “Distribution of COVID-19 Morbidity Rate in Association with Social and Economic Factors in Wuhan, China: Implications for Urban Development.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, prepublished.

Discussion leader: Yiyi

Book synopsis:

• The Inconvenient Generation: Migrant Youth Coming of Age on Shanghai's Edge (Rob)
• Last Days of Old Beijing (Haoxiangyu, Luke) 

 

April 25           Presentations on issue paper 2

(Issue paper 2 due)