The Interplay of Innovative Urban Planning Approaches and Economic Upgrading in China:The Case of Guangzhou Mega-City

This paper interlinks new spatial planning strategies, such as urban and intra-urban rescaling and strategic planning, against: the background of political economic upgrading programs as in the case of Guangzhou mega-city. Global and domestic competition force China's metropolises to constantly reorient themselves and adapt their urban development strategies. hi the Pearl River Delta, the restructuring process from basic manufacturing to modern service and high-tech industries with higher added-value has already been going on for some time. The main hypothesis of this paper is that this upgrading of industrial structures and urban policies aimed at enhancing economic competitiveness in general are both important drivers for administrative rescaling on the municipal and intra-urban levels, for the implementation of increasingly strategic urban planning approaches and for organizational innovations. In mega-cities such as Guangzhou, this development coincides with a rising significance of urban districts in the urban planning hierarchy. We show how this happens by analyzing urban policies regarding the reform of administrative powers granted to Guangzhou Development District (GDD). In the course of this change, the GDD administration was upgraded from the status of a state manager of a development zone to that or a district governing authority in 2005. It is now responsible for comprehensive urban management. This paper is based on extensive literature review and field observation as well as expert and stakeholder interviews.