Financializing Shanghai: Entrepreneurial Urban Governance and the Changing Mechanisms of Urban Redevelopment under State-Led Financialized Urbanism

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This article critically evaluates the practices of entrepreneurial urban governance in China’s urban redevelopment under state-led financialized urbanism. The research identifies a new trajectory of transition in urban governance from the growth machine mentality into a new fashion of debt machines. Urban redevelopment has enhanced land use efficiency, but equitable outcomes for various stakeholders remain elusive. A peculiar pattern of changes in urban governance is unveiled to show how a municipal government under a Party-state has manipulated financial instruments for revenue generation and political ambition. This study contributes insights into the diverse trajectories of changing urban governance in the era of financialization.