Soft space development against territorial-bounded governance logics: The case of Shenzhen-Shanwei Cooperation Zone

Abstract

Regional governance is a dynamic and evolving process shaped by various institutional contexts. To facilitate a process-oriented understanding of city-region development, this study draws on soft space literature and focuses on understanding how soft space develops against territorial-bounded governance logics. Specifically, we examine city-region making through the lens of the development of soft space, and conceptualise such development as driven by the interplay between relational, territorial and scalar geopolitics drivers. Through the empirical case of Shenzhen-Shanwei Cooperation Zone, this study reveals the contradictions that arise from layering soft space onto preexisting, territorial-bounded institutional arrangements. We also illustrate how soft space develops under the strong administrative interventions aimed at resolving the conflicts, ultimately becoming largely absorbed into existing institutional frameworks while being strategically retained to safeguard the developmental rights of less-developed areas. In doing so, this study deepens the understanding of the dynamics of city-region making and soft space development under the influences of strong administrative interventions and territorial-bounded governance structures.