Building knowledge city in transformation era: Knowledge-based urban development in Beijing in the context of globalisation and decentralisation

This study examines knowledge-based urban development in Beijing with the objective of revealing the impact of the 'synergetic' forces of globalisation and local government intervention on knowledge-based urban development in the context of the coexisting processes of globalisation and decentralisation. The findings in this paper show that due to the rapid growth of the cultural industry sector, knowledge-based urban development has created various kinds of 'cultural industry clustered areas', which were recently promoted by the 2008 Olympic Games. 'Synergetic' global and local forces are leading knowledge-based urban development, with the emergence of a local coalition regime in which local government manages local development, considered as 'enterprises' in the decentralisation process, while the State retains a significant influence on knowledge-based urban development. The central and municipal governments tend to emphasise strategies to 'facilitate the climate for growth' rather than the centrally planned control they exerted prior to the 1980s.