URBAN RESTRUCTURING IN CHINA EMERGING MARKET-ECONOMY - TOWARDS A FRAMEWORK FOR ANALYSIS

The objective of this article is to speculate on the urban restructuri ng process in China's transition to a market economy. Previous studies suggest that a broad theoretical framework is much needed to develop hypotheses for further empirical studies. This paper draws its insight s from relevant studies on contemporary capitalist cities, in particul ar, political economy analysis of the urban process and capital switch ing, the structure of building provision and the creation of a rent ga p, and institutional analysis of property rights. Summarily, it sugges ts that the basic logic of production in the context of a socialist ci ty requires a specific way of coordinating - through economic planning and a specific configuration - the state work-unit system. Manifested in the production of the built environment was project-specific devel opment. The structural tendency to disinvest in developed land has eng endered a rent gap, which has laid the foundation for the phase of red evelopment in reforming socialist economies. Urban restructuring in th e recent emerging market economy, which mainly involves decentralizati on, reorganizing the production of the built environment, and an incre asing local-global link through overseas capital, is understood throug h this perspective. The post-reform built environment is characterized by land-use restructuring and polycentric development. It is argued t hat the physical reshaping of Chinese cities can be understood with re spect to the redefinition of property rights, hence, capturing the ren t gap by the main actors - state work-units, municipalities, the centr al state, real-estate investors, original residents and farmers. By it s nature, the process favours big builders who have either de facto ri ghts over existing urban land property or huge capital that enables th em to 'wipe out' small owners. Western experience of gentrification re minds us that social problems may be created during the process, which calls for continuing insights to shed light on urban restructuring in postreform China.