Miao, Bo and Graeme Lang. (2014) A tale of two eco-cities: experimentation under hierarchy in Shanghai and Tianjin. Urban Policy and Research. Prepublished December, 3, 2014. DOI: 10.1080/08111146.2014.967390

Two ambitious ‘new city’ projects were launched in China during the past 15 years—the ‘Dongtan eco-city’ project in Shanghai and the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City project in Tianjin. Both have received much international publicity and attention. However, the Dongtan project has stalled, and will evidently not be revived, while the Tianjin project continues, albeit with more moderate goals. We analyse the two cases, using the concept of ‘experimentation under hierarchy’ to show why one project is proceeding, while the other has failed. The key factors were strong international inputs of expertise and funds in the Tianjin project, along with crucial support from the central government, both of which were lacking in the Dongtan project.

近15 年来，中国搞了两个宏大的“新城”计划，一个是上海东滩生态城，一个是中国与新加坡合资的天津生态城。这两项工程都在国际上造出了许多舆论，也得到许多关 注。然而，东滩项目半途而废，显然不会再度启动，目标比较温和的天津项目倒是一直在进行。本文用“科层制度下的实验”这一概念，分析这两个案例，说明为何 一个项目得以延续，另一个却以失败告终。我们认为关键因素是天津项目有强大的国际专家团队和国际资金投入，而且，关键是得到了中央政府的支持，而这些因素 东滩项目都没有。

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Monique Abud

Centre d'études sur la Chine moderne et contemporaine, EHESS, Paris, France

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