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Synopsis

The global financial crisis started a new context of late capitalism and austerity urbanism. Instead of a unidirectional governance transformation towards entrepreneurialism, rising finance and financialization, pervasive state roles in state capitalism, and post-growth municipal radicalism are competing trends. Previously, China witnessed private entrepreneurship, economic devolution, and housing commodification at the turn of the millennium. They have been portrayed as urban or state entrepreneurialism. These governance features have been transformed as China entered Xi Jinping’s new era. This paper revisits the transformations in post-pandemic China and finds that rising state capital, re-centralization of spatial governance, and party-state co-governance represent the shift from entrepreneurial to managerial statecraft. The new trends broadly echo changing capital-state-society relationships in the world today. Beyond market rationality, the state mobilizes capital and society to pursue strategic intentionality. The transformation has been exacerbated by pandemic urgency, post-pandemic economic downturn, and greater geopolitical tension.

Speaker

Professor Fulong Wu is a distinguished scholar in urban studies, currently serving as the Bartlett Professor of Planning at University College London. Prior to joining UCL in 2011, he held academic positions at the University of Southampton and Cardiff University.

Professor Wu’s research focuses on urban development in China, addressing social and sustainability challenges. His notable publications include Planning for Growth: Urban and Regional Planning in China (2015), Creating Chinese Urbanism: Urban Revolution and Governance Changes (2022), and Governing Urban Development in China: Critical Urban Studies (2025), co-authored with Professor Fangzhu Zhang.

Currently, Professor Wu leads a European Research Council Advanced Grant project titled “Rethinking China’s Model of Urban Governance,” reflecting his ongoing commitment to advancing understanding of urbanization and governance in China.