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.

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.

Since 1978, when China embarked on a new period of economic reforms and introduced open door policies, it has experienced a great urban transformation. The role of transport has proved indispensable in this unprecedented rapid urbanisation and economic growth. As the first research-focused book dedicated to this important topic, the Handbook on Transport and Urban Transformation in China offers new insight into the various opportunities and challenges brought by fast-paced motorization and urban development, and explores them in broad spatial-economic, environmental, social, and institutional dimensions.

Many countries in Africa and Asia have coastlines that present opportunities for them to become gateways for trade between the hinterlands and global trading routes. However, policy makers struggle to translate this potential into engines of economic development and social transformation. In the past 40 years, China has taken advantage of its strategic geographical location and its status as one of the world’s top manufacturing regions. From a very low position on almost all metrics, today China has become home to more than half of the world’s top 50 ports. The rapid development of China’s ports was critical for the country’s remarkable economic growth. What China achieved can be informative; how and why China revived and modernized its port sector is especially relevant and provides valuable lessons for other countries. This book explores the transformation of China’s port sector through four topics and four periods, beginning with China’s major economic reforms that started in 1978. The first topic addresses the links between China’s macroeconomic and regional development strategies and development of the port sector. During this period—through about 1991—China began decentralizing port management to facilitate development of special economic zones. Thesecond topic—during the period 1992 through about 2001—is more specific about the ports and analyzes changes in port governance, including the way in which essential investments were determined and financed. Thethird topic examines the relationship of ports to the cities where they are located and to the hinterlands on which they depend—coinciding with the period 2002†“11. Domestic and international investment resulted in many new export-oriented processing factories during this period. The accompanying boost in trade required further expansion of port capacity. The fourth topic addresses how—from 2011 onward—human resource and innovation policies in the port sector have responded to changing demands as the country looks to become a less resource-dependent and more regionally balanced economy.

This book illustrates and discusses the main characteristics of port-city development dynamics with a focus on the fast-growing city-states of the Middle East, which are emerging as key players in logistics and the global supply chain. Maritime ports and the cities hosting them have long fascinated scholars – geographers, economists, architects, urban planners, sociologists etc. – as they become centres of exchange where different social and urban environments meet, at the intersection between land and sea. Given that the current body of literature on the topic is biased – mainly concerning the Western world and East Asian region – with mono-disciplinary tendencies, this book outlines a theoretical basis from a wide range of literature, linking port-city studies, globalization theories and logistics, and adopts a multidisciplinary perspective. The main target audience of the book includes scholars and graduate students in urban studies, spatial planning, urban and regional economics, logistics, geography and transport geography with an interest in studying port geography and the port-city interface, port infrastructure development and port hinterland dynamics; it will also benefit policymakers and urban planners whose work involves these topics.

Much work has been done on port governance yet little has addressed intermodal terminal governance, despite the clear similarities. This book fills that gap by establishing a governance framework for situating analysis of intermodal terminals throughout their life cycle. A version of the product life cycle theory is amended with governance theory to produce a framework covering each stage of the terminal’s life cycle, from the initial planning to the many decisions taken regarding the public/private split in funding mechanisms, ownership, selecting an operator, specifying KPIs to the operator, setting fees, earning profit, ensuring fair access to all rail service operators, and finally to reconcessioning the terminal to a new operator, managing the handover and maintaining the terminal throughout its life cycle. An institutional analysis of stakeholder relations, situated within a governance framework, illuminates these issues and enables not only conceptualisation and greater understanding of the geography of intermodal transport, but also decision-making and goal-setting by planners and policy makers. This book thus has three functions: first, as a textbook on the planning and operation of intermodal terminals; second, as a presentation of recent empirical research on intermodal terminal governance; third, as a framework for future research in which the broad field of analysis of intermodal transport can be viewed through a single lens and used to inform geographers, policymakers and planners.

China has become a superpower, exerting significant influence globally. This accessible text integrates thematic and regional coverage to provide a panoramic view of China--its physical geography; population, including ethnic diversity; urban development; agriculture and land use; transportation networks; dynamic economic processes; and environmental challenges. Cultural and political geography topics are woven throughout the chapters. The text also offers in-depth assessments of selected regions, capturing the complexity of this vast and populous country. It is richly illustrated with more than 150 maps, tables, figures, and photographs--including 8 pages in full color--which are available as PowerPoint slides at the companion website. Pedagogical Features *Chapter-opening learning objectives. *Chapter-opening key concepts and terms. *Extensive notes pointing students to relevant online resources. *Engaging topic boxes in every chapter.