Overview

China has progressed dramatically since 1978 when the country started its economic reforms and opened up to the world economy. It took only three decades for China to develop from a closed, centrally planned economy with little sea-borne trade into the world's second largest economy with the largest container shipment volume in the world. The major coastal cities have been gateways linking China with the world and have experienced rapid urbanization and port growth. How has such port growth been speeded up and realized under strong state control and intervention? How have ports and their cities affected each other? What lessons can China’s port-cities learn from other countries, regions and cities? What will be the next stage of port-city interplays in China in this globalizing era? Answering these questions from a geographical perspective, James Wang looks into four sets of port-city relations in China: Economic and functional relations between port and city; port-city spatial relations; external network relations of cities through ports; and port-city governance. These relations formulate a conceptual framework which is used to interpret port-city interplays in individual ports and cities but also in multi-port regions such as the Pearl River Delta. Based on the author’s own research and investigations into more than 25 port cities in China over the past 18 years, this book provides vivid stories about China and challenge existing theories on port development.

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9781138546653

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Reviews

'Port cities have become key enablers of global supply and production chains. The study of port cities, and particularly the relation between ports and cities, has reached new heights to address paradigm shifts in the institutional and market environment. This book constitutes a major contribution to existing literature by presenting a convincing in-depth analysis of the fast changing dynamics in port-city relationships in China, a country where the practices of the states are probably more important than the procedures of the firms.' Theo Notteboom, University of Antwerp, Belgium 'The scale and scope of recent change in China's port cities is staggering. James Wang, the leading scholar on Chinese ports, provides a comprehensive interpretation of multi- level institutional forces that intersect with commercial imperatives behind the present complex spatial relationships in coastal China. The book guides the reader through the complexity and reviews the contemporary challenges. It is nothing less than a tour de force.' Brian Slack, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada

Author Information

James Jixian Wang is associate professor and head of the Department of Geography at the University of Hong Kong. Born in Beijing and trained at People’s U of China (B. Econ), University of Hong Kong (MPhil), and University of Toronto (PhD), Dr Wang specializes in the research of nodal transport development and their geographical impacts. He is a council member of the Hong Kong Society for Transport Studies, and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport. He has published widely and is an editorial board member of the Journal of Transport Geography, Transportmetrica, Asian Geographers, Transport Behaviour and Society, and Urban Planning International (Chinese). As a port city specialist, Dr Wang has participated in port-city planning projects and strategic studies for more than 25 Chinese and other Asian port cities and regions.

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