Spatial planning and its implementation in provincial China: a case study of the Jiangsu region along the Yangtze River plan

Spatial planning is considered as an important governance instrument to cope with uncoordinated regional problems. This article explores the underlying rationale and mechanisms of spatial planning in provincial China through a case study of the Jiangsu region along the Yangtze River (JSYR) plan. It reveals that the practice of the JSYR plan reflected the changing strategic expression of the provincial government on regional development and was shaped by the contests between provincial and municipal governments. The planning policies and provincial economic and political mobilizations formed as a spatial policy framework that promoted plan implementation at the municipal level. The plan achieved development goals of overall economic growth and infrastructural construction, but it was ineffective regarding development control and regional coordination. The case study also sheds light on the dynamic relationship between provincial and municipal governments, and the structural problems of spatial governance under economic decentralization and political centralization in China.