Port-City Interplays in China

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.

Contents: Introduction: coastal port cities as global interfaces; An analytical framework for port-city relations; Port-city economic and functional relationship; Port-city spatial relations; External relationships of Chinese port cities; Port-city governance relations; Relations among ports and port cities in specific regions; Multi-layered port-city dynamics in China's coastal areas; Conclusion and foresight; Bibliography; Index.

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.