Urbanisation, governance, and local state-building in China: the making of new citizens

Urbanisation in China in the past two decades has produced a large number of displaced farmers as new urban residents. From the state's perspective, integrating this group into urban life has particular significance for economic development and the social stability of Chinese cities. Economically, they are considered a consumer force with great potential for domestic consumption. They are also becoming key participants in social and political life in Chinese cities. This article examines this new group of urban residents produced by China's urbanisation from a governance perspective in terms of economic integration and social integration carried out as governance tasks. Through qualitative research conducted in relocation neighbourhoods in Suzhou, this article reveals that, in addition to its conventional political role, the local state plays a significant role as a social actor leading and coordinating local urbanisation trajectories; co-opting non-state stakeholders, including market groups and the residents; and shaping public discourses in relation to social and cultural values. All these contribute to a key local governance mechanism which co-opts and transforms local economic, political, and social practices into instruments of local state power and enhances the coherence of the strategies, structures, and operations of the local political economy.