Urban resilience in China: Government action and community response

This paper is about urban resilience in China, even though the word 'resilience' is not used in China, and the concept is not discussed in relation to changes in socio-ecological systems and their sustainable management. In China's political domain, however, the idea of responding to uncertainties and adapting to challenges existed for a long time. Focusing on a redevelopment project, this paper investigates how, in the context of China's political authoritarianism, government authorities and the affected neighbourhoods respond to challenges stemming from a government-led redevelopment project and play out their power relationship. A case study of Guangzhou's old village redevelopment is investigated. Particular attention is given to the city's redevelopment policy and the way that the dispossessed were involved in the negotiations for the redevelopment. This paper argues that resilience-relevant practices in China, unlike resilience discussions in European countries, are uniquely Chinese. While flexible policies and negotiated engagement are employed to build community resilience, measures are executed in a top-down manner and they are aimed at increasing the political accountability of the authority rather than at empowering people. Despite this authoritarian nature, the needs of a community are not entirely overlooked.