.png){kind=small}
China Development Studies Elite Seminar Series
Scalar Politics and Its Spatial Impacts: Planning for Inter-city Railways in China's Mega-city Regions
Date: 2 FEB 2024 (Friday)
Time: 16:00-17:30 (HKT)
Venue: CLL, Department of Geography, 10.10, 10/F, The Jockey Club Tower, Centennial Campus, HKU
Via Zoom: Zoom link will be provided upon successful registration
Registration link: https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_hdetail.aspx?guest=Y&ueid=92582
Abstract:
In the second half of the 20th century, China’s railway system was monopolized by the central state, represented by the Ministry of Railway, which has been challenged since the early 2000s. Ongoing prosperity of inter-city railway plans throughout the country promotes the participation of the provincial and municipal state agents. In the railway planning process, multi-level state agents struggle across scales for their preferred line alignment and station location, which reconstructs the hierarchical configuration of China’s railway system. Via the lens of scalar politics, I will explore which actors are involved in the railway planning, what they prefer for line alignment and station location and why, who has more bargaining power, what strategies are adopted in the negotiation and which cities get more transport benefits. The Pearl River Delta Inter-city Railway System Plan is adopted as a study case.
Dr. Mengmeng Zhang
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University
Mengmeng Zhang is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Geographical Science at Beijing Normal University. Her current research focuses on scalar politics, transport infrastructure planning, regional development, and big data implication. She has published articles in journals such as the Annals of the American Association of Geographers, The China Quarterly, Journal of Transport Geography and Transportation Research Part A.
