Developing Xiong’an New Area: A new regime for space production in China’s national technopole?

Xiong’an New Area is not only a newly emerging and nationally endorsed technopole, it is also regarded as a test-bed for novel forms of governance and financial management in China. Although it is currently only in its starting phase, Xiong’an demonstrates that various institutional features are very different from those found in traditional technopoles, such as National High-tech Industrial Development Zones (NHTIDZs). How such institutional innovation affects feasibility and viability of the construction and maintenance of new high-tech metropolises is under-studied. This article develops a conceptual framework based on the theory of space production and identifies two types of space production, global industrialization and local urbanization, which are then applied to the NHTIDZs. Analysis of the situation in Xiong’an leads to the conclusion that Xiong’an represents a mode of strong state-led space production within China’s governance modernization. This not only opens the door to a reconsideration of current land finance and social management systems but it also implies that the transferability of its institutional innovations is limited to other cities where imposing greater social control through technologies is possible.