Fast-tracked city unbound? Speed, scale, and risk in China’s overseas investment

Date & time: 

Thursday 14 March 2024 | 12.30pm-2.00pm GMT

Venue:

CBG.1.05 (1st floor), Centre Building, LSE (Register here for online.)

Speaker: 

Professor Hyun Bang Shin (Department of Geography and Environment, LSE)

Chair: 

Dr Timothy Hildebrandt (Department of Social Policy, LSE)

Lunch and refreshments will be served before the seminar.

Hosted by the LSE-Fudan Global Public Policy Hub and the LSE School of Public Policy

Abstract: 

Fast urbanism has been one of the key aspirational characteristics of contemporary China. Speedy construction and economy of scale have enabled the rapid process of urbanisation in China. In recent years, real estate developers, who facilitated urban accumulation, have also attempted to advance into overseas markets, including London, which is the main case study for this paper. How do the experiences of speedy and large-scale urban development in China translate to overseas destinations? What risk aversion strategies do they adopt? What does this tell us about the nature and agents of capital? To address these questions, this talk engages with an in-depth empirical study of an urban redevelopment project in East London that involved a Chinese developer. By evaluating the business practices of the Chinese developer in London and tracing such practices back to China, this talk aims to shed light on the nature of urban manifestations of global China and the meaning of ‘ethnic capital’.

Find out more here.