2016 年 46 巻 2 号 p. 229-242
Since the 1978 economic reform that resulted in rapid expansion of Chinese cities, the government has requisitioned collective agricultural land owned by villagers. However, village settlements and Economic Development Land have been retained by the villager collectives. Collectively owned developed lands were later taken over by urbanization, resulting in urbanized villages. Drawing upon Lefebvre’s concept of “trial by space,” this paper constructs an analytical framework to explore the profound changes in power structure for (re)development of urbanized villages.
Three cycles of trial by space have been observed. Initially, the traditional agricultural life style was interrupted by the government initiat land acquisition. With clan community organizations the practice of joint-stock company was applied and led to sequential rural industrialization where informal settlements and land-use adjustments were brought about. In the second cycle, the definition of legal and illegal (re)development and restrictions on construction were regulated but ignored several times when the government tried to apply control over urbanized villages. Lastly, increased power of the villagers forced the local governments to adjust control in the villagers’ favour, enabling them to control redevelopment after 2009. Cycles of trial by space in urbanized villages indicate a change in the social power structure on which this study invites more critical examination.
JEL Classifications: R14