Social Science 2300 The Pearl River Delta Megacity Region Wednesday and Friday 3:00PM 4:20PM Rm 1014, LSK Bldg Instructor: Jerry Patchell Email: sopatch@ust.hk Rm. 2354 Office Hours: Wednesday and Friday 2:00 3:00 TA: Stephen Choy Chi Ho Email: choyho@ust.hk Rm. 3001 Office Hours: Thursday 2:00 4:00 Introduction The Pearl River Delta Megacity Region (PRD) is the one of the fastest evolving urban regions in the world. In thirty years it has transformed from a rural backwater to an industrial and service oriented economic engine. It has lifted millions of people out of poverty and given them new homes and communities. This transformation has also imposed costs on the environment and peoples quality of life. The PRD s evolution has been unique, a result of the sudden unleashing of its hidden potential after it was opened up to Hong Kong and its global trade networks. At the same time many universal urbanization mechanisms have been at work or put to work the forces of agglomeration, the creation of land rent curves, infrastructure integration and connectivity, planning, and development of multiple centers. The evolution of the PRD provides insights into the development of other Chinese megacities and the role of megacities within the global urban network. The course has two main objectives: 1) Enable you to discover more about the region you live in and whose evolution will have a great impact on your own future and quality of life. 2) For you to understand the processes of regional economic development and urbanization as they apply to megacity regions and in general. Expected Learning Outcomes 1. Describe the various actors, institutions and natural endowments have influenced the PRD s development. 2. Explain how key agglomeration, economic, planning and political processes have shaped industrial and urban development. 3. Compare and contrast different development patterns within the PRD and the PRD with other megacities in China and elsewhere. 4. Develop individual and group research, writing and presenting skills.
Structure and Evaluation System The course is designed so that you explore the PRD, to discover what makes it work, what problems it has and to find things that interest you. To do so the course is constructed of six modules with each focusing on the different aspects of the PRD megacity region. In each module you will be assigned a new city to explore. Every 2 3 weeks we will deal with a different set of issues that will be explained, with examples, in class. At the end of the module class time will be set aside so that you can have time in groups to research a topic, using the approaches you have learned in the modules lectures and readings. You will be asked to present and share your findings with the class in some of the modules. You will be evaluated on both your group and individual performance. You will also explore the PRD by writing a research project on a topic of your choice. It can be any topic you choose labour rights, technology innovation, a music district, nature preservation, whatever. The only requirement is that you explain how this phenomenon evolved in the PRD the way it has. In other words, you have to give sound reasons and evidence for its existence and the characteristics it has developed. You can explore this issue as an individual or as a group. The School of Humanities and Social Science is offering a voluntary research and writing tutorials. You are strongly encouraged to take this opportunity to improve your research and writing capacities. If you do not wish to do a research project I will give you a takehome exam which refers more directly to the topics covered in the course. 40 % Module assignments (probably 5), including individual and group components 10 % of module assignments. 35 % Final report: explanation of how your Design for Environment project can be integrated into the business strategy, environmental policy, and practices (10-20 pages depending on group size, individual contributions marked separately). 10 % Peer assessment 5 % Class attendance and participation
Schedule Week MODULES TASKS CORE READINGS 1 Introduction and overview Establish baseline of existing knowledge and for outcomes What do you know about the PRD? 2 3 Mega cities: agglomeration, integration and multi polarity Why do megacities evolve? What benefits, what problems? What types of internal and external dynamics? Introduction to theories of regional development; agglomeration; connectivity and coordination; policy and planning; examples of other mega cities; relationship to globalization What are your group s connections with the PRD? Scott A. et al. Global City Regions: An Overview 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Nature, agriculture, and culture What happens to original ecosystems and cultures in the process of megacity evolution? Examination of physical and biotic systems that make up the PRD; the agriculture that was and is practiced; the cultural legacies of the preindustrial era. One region, many systems: multi level governance and infrastructure Interrelations among national, provincial, SAR, municipal governance; regional development planning and investment; other governance influences; public and private infrastructure provision Economic dynamism: from workshop of the world to cradle of giants Analyze the components of the PRD s industrialization: HK and Taiwan investment, other MNC FDI; regional specialization; export dependency; trade markets; development of Chinese giant firms and MNCs; innovation, high tech and services; labour and land issues. Discover an interesting natural, agricultural or historical place/issue in the PRD. Explain its present condition and the likelihood of its continued existence. Explain how a major infrastructure or other development was inititated and developed in your city. What government, private and community interactions? Explain the evolution of an industry in your city Initiation, firm sizes and ownership, technology, external economies, national and global markets, etc. People Said Extinction Was Not Possible Governing City Regions in China Economic and Spatial Transformation The Pearl River Delta: The Fifth Asian Little Dragon 11 12 13 Urbanization, planning and sustainability Similarities and differences among PRD cities and communities; housing, mobility, services amenity provision; accommodation of migrant labor; land policies and consequences; environment and sustainability challenges. Describe a community in your city Initiation, planning, governance, building quality services, quality of life. Land Commodification Second Metamorphosis
Readings Legend: LMES = available on course LMES website; Electronic = available as electronic book from library (search using title); Reserve = in library on reserve. Module 1: Introduction and overview Module 2: Mega cities: agglomeration, integration and multi polarity Scott A. et al. Ch. 1 Global City Regions: An Overview, Ch. 1 in Scott, A. 2001 Global City Regions: trends, theory, policy Oxford: Oxford University Press. (LMES) Lang, R. and Knox, P. 2009 The New Metropolis: Rethinking Megalopolis Regional Studies, 43.6, 789 802. (LMES) Stimson, R. et al. 2006 Perspectives on Regional Economic Development Ch. 1 in Regional Economic Development New York: Springer. (LMES) McKinsey Global Institute 2009 Preparing for China s Urban Billion (LMES) World Bank 2014 Urban China Washington: World Bank Group (LMES) McCann, P. Modern Regional and Urban Economics Oxford: Oxford University Press; Ch. 2 Agglomeration and Clustering and Ch. 3 The Spatial Diffusion of Activities (LMES) Module 3: Nature, agriculture, and culture Marks, R. 2007 People Said Extinction Was Not Possible, Ch. 8 in A. Hornberg, J.R. McNeil and J. Martinez Alier Rethinking Environmental History, Plymouth U.K.; AltaMira. (LMES) TBA Module 4: One region, many systems: multi level governance and infrastructure Xu, Jiang 2008 Governing city regions in China Town Planning Review, 79, 157 185. (LMES) Xu, J. and Yeh, A. 2005 City Repositioning and Competitiveness Building in Regional Development: New Development Strategies in Guangzhou, China International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 29.2, 283 308. (LMES) Vogel, R. et al. 2010 Governing Global Megacities in China and West Progress in Planning 73, 1 75 (LMES) PRD Governments 2011 Regional Cooperation Plan on Building a Quality Living Area (LMES) Module 5: Economic dynamism: from workshop of the world to cradle of giants Core readings: Lin, G. 1997 Economic and Spatial Transformation, Ch. 5 in Red Capitalism in South China Vancouver: UBC Press. (LMES) Li, Si ming 2009 The Pearl River Delta: The Fifth Asian Little Dragon, Ch. 7 in HongKong,Macau and the Pearl River Delta: A Geographical Survey. Ed. K. Wong. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Educational Publishing Co. (LMES) Li,Si ming. HongKong s Changing Economy in National and Global Contexts. Hong Kong, Macau and the Pearl River Delta: A Geographical Survey. Ed. K. Wong. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Educational Publishing Co., 2009. 210 236. (LMES) Enright, M. et al 2005 Regional Powerhouse: The Greater Pearl River Delta and the Rise of China London: Wiley (Reserve); Ch. 3 The Economic Development of the PRD (LMES) InvestHK Greater PRD Report 2010 (LMES) InvestHK Greater PRD Report 2014 (LMES) Sharif, N. and Huang, C. 2012 Innovation strategy, firm survival and relocation: The case of Hong Kong owned manufacturing in Guangdong Province, China Research Policy 41, 69 78 (LMES) Module 6: Urbanization, planning and sustainability
Core readings: Xu, J. et al. 2009 Land Commodification: New Land Development and Politics in China since the Late 1990s International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 33.4, 890 913. (LMES) Ng, MK & Xu, J. 2014 Second Metamorphosis? Urban Restructuring and Planning Responses in Guangzhou and Shenzhen in the Twenty First Century Ch. 2 in U. Altrock and S. Schoon Maturing Megacities: The Pearl River Delta in Progressive Transformation, London: Springer. (Electronic) Supplementary readings Siu, Kaxton forthcoming Continuity and Change in the Everyday Life of Chinese Migrant Factory Workers China Journal (LMES) Po, L. 2012 Asymmetrical integration: public finance deprivation in China s urbanized villages Environment and Planning A, 44, 2834 2851. (LMES) U. Altrock and S. Schoon Maturing Megacities: The Pearl River Delta in Progressive Transformation, London: Springer. (Electronic)