Emerging Stakeholders in China’s Urban Governance The Case of Guangzhou Development District in the Pearl River Delta

Since the beginning of China’s reform and opening up in December 1978, far-reaching and fundamental changes led to growing city competition especially in China’s mega-urban regions. This also influenced the role of the special economic areas (SEAs) as growth poles of the cities’ development. Changes in preferential policies or decentralization measures enabling a growing number of local authorities to establish SEAs, for example, opposed several challenges for the local governments to further promote economic growth. In the process of increasing the city’s competition several shifts in urban governance structures occurred, such as local government becoming an entrepreneurial actor similar to the individual firm. Using the example of SEAs in Guangzhou, this essay analyzes shifts in actor coalitions involved in political decision-making processes in Guangzhou. The paper also highlights current trends as well as challenges for urban governance in the Pearl River Delta and China