Uneven Economic Resilience of Old Industrial Cities in China: A Multiple-Perspective Analysis (Urban Sustainability)

Taking the Chinese context seriously, this book provides critical reflections and policy-informed accounts of how and why old industrial cities generate uneven resilience in the face of crisis. It offers unconventional conceptualizations and on-the-ground empirical studies in the Chinese context when it comes to the literature on regional economic resilience. Theoretically, this book adopts multiple perspectives, including evolutionary, complex adaptive systems, and institutional and geographical political economy, to provide a more systematic understanding of regional economic resilience in Chinese old industrial cities. Empirically, this book adopts a comparative analysis approach to explore the in-depth nature of uneven regional economic resilience by focusing on two coal mining regions in China. The book also makes an additional and timely academic contribution to the literature on the conceptualization and empirics of regional economic resilience under the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. This book is suitable for undergraduate and graduate students and scholars interested in economic geography in general and regional economic resilience, regional industrial dynamics and old industrial cities in China in particular. It is also a useful reference for local and regional governments, as well as businesses, for policy-making and action in the face of crisis. Foreword Preface Contents Abbreviations 1 Theories, Concepts, and Research Accounts of Regional Economic Resilience 1.1 EEG, Adaptation, Adaptability and Resilience: Problems and Limitations 1.2 Why Economic Resilience of Old Industrial Cities Matters: Navigating The Missing Link 1.3 Key Research Questions and Rationales 1.4 Book Structure and Overview of Chapters References 2 Economic Adaptation, Adaptability, and Resilience of Regions: A Conceptual Framework Revisited 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Regional Economic Resilience: A Critical Review 2.3 Placing Adaptation and Adaptability in Regional Economic Resilience: A Typology 2.4 Impact Factors and Determinants 2.5 Conclusions and Discussions References 3 The Economic Resilience of Old Industrial Cities in China with Different Types of Crises: A Call for Multiple Perspectives 3.1 Introduction: Why Chinese OICs and Their Resilience Matter? 3.2 Old Industrial Cities in China: History and New Developmental Trends 3.3 OIC Research with Chinese Characteristics? A Critical Review 3.4 Modern Concepts and Frameworks on the Economic Resilience of China’s OICs 3.5 Engaging Regional Resilience Research in China’s OICs: A Call for Multiple Perspectives and Agendas 3.6 Conclusions Notes References 4 Industrial Structure or Agency: What Affects Regional Economic Resilience Under the 2008 Economic Crisis? Evidence from Resource-Based Cities in China 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Regional Economic Resilience and Its Measurements 4.3 Determinants of Regional Resilience: A Conceptual Framework 4.4 Materials and Methods 4.4.1 Study Area and Data 4.4.2 Methods 4.5 Main Results 4.5.1 Characteristic of Economic Resilience in RBCs 4.5.2 Decomposing the Economic Resilience of RBCs 4.5.3 Effect of Industrial Structure on Economic Resilience 4.6 Results and Discussions 4.7 Conclusions References 5 What Matters for Regional Economic Resilience Amid COVID-19? Evidence from Cities in Northeast China 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Literature Review and Hypotheses 5.2.1 What Affect Regional Economic Resilience Under the 2008 Financial Crisis 5.2.2 Hypotheses: Potential Factors Affecting Regional Resilience Under COVID-19 5.3 Study Area, Methodology and Data 5.3.1 Why Cities in Northeast China? 5.3.2 Measurement Methods 5.3.3 Geographical Detector Model 5.3.4 Index Composition and Data Description 5.4 Results: Differentiated Resistance to COVID-19 5.5 Uneven Economic Resistance to COVID-19: What Matters? 5.6 Conclusions References 6 Exploring Adaptation and Adaptability in Uneven Economic Resilience: A Tale of Two Chinese Mining Regions 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Placing Adaptation and Adaptability: A Typology of the Relationship 6.3 Context and Methodology 6.4 Empirical Analysis 6.4.1 Zaozhuang 6.4.2 Fuxin 6.5 Comparative Discussion 6.6 Conclusions Note References 7 Institutional Change and Divergent Economic Resilience: Path Development of Two Resource-Depleted Cities in China 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Economic Resilience and Path Development in Cities and Regions: Identifying the Missing Link 7.3 Path Development in the Process of Evolutionary Resilience: An Institutional Change Approach 7.4 Study Areas and Research Design 7.5 Understanding the Divergent Resilience of Two Chinese Resource-Depleted Cities 7.5.1 Zaozhuang: Positive Layering and Conversion Towards Path Creation and Renewal 7.5.2 Fuxin: Institutional Thickening Trapped in Path Persistence and Extension 7.6 Conclusions References 8 Conclusions and Research Agendas 8.1 Key Findings of the Book 8.2 Contributions to Economic Geography 8.2.1 Contributions to the Literature of the Restructuring and Resilience of OICs 8.2.2 Theoretical/Paradigmatic Contributions to EG 8.3 Relational Resilience and Chain Resilience Under the COVID-19 Crisis: Some New Thoughts 8.4 Policy Implications for the Resilience Development of OICs in China 8.5 Future Research Agendas References