Call for Participants
China’s Global Urban Presence
Manchester Urban Institute
The University of Manchester
Manchester, UK
15th November 2019
This workshop is being organised under the auspices of the AGORA project (‘The age of infrastructure: China as a global urban agent’, funded by the University of Manchester Research Institute), which seeks to explore how Sino-centric visions and activities around connectivity and infrastructural development reconfigure relations between cities, regions and nation states.
AGORA investigates initiatives that integrate frontiers of resource extraction with dedicated centres of production (such as special economic zones), linked to China via a growing global intermodal logistics network. It highlights the existence of a particularly urban form of transregional development, where growth is achieved through connectivities between economic hubs. Our starting point is that understanding China’s global infrastructural presence can reveal wider contradictions and contingencies in the changing planetary relationship between cities, states and market-led development. The project involves case study work and network building among relevant stakeholders in academia, government, business and the third sector.
The workshop will offer opportunities for discussing current intellectual challenges, creating a transnational network on the topic, as well as developing joint research funding proposals.
Speakers
Professor Susanne Brandtstädter, University of Cologne
Presentation Title: BRI and the ‘Chinese Dream’: Roads and Civilizational Projects in China
Dr Rocco L. Bubbico, European Investment Bank
Presentation Title: Infrastructure investment: the double challenges for Europe
Dr Ferenc Gyuris, Eötvös Loránd University
Presentation Title: East Central European perspectives on large-scale Chinese infrastructure projects
Professor Giles Mohan, The Open University
Presentation Title: Below the belt? Territory, infrastructure and development in China’s international rise
Professor Anupam Nanda, The University of Manchester
Presentation Title: Multi-dimensional Impact of Large-scale Infrastructure on Real Estate Market
Dr Ijlal Naqvi, Singapore Management University
Presentation Title: CPEC, Sahiwal Coal, and the Infrastructural State in Pakistan
Professor Marcus Power, Durham University
Presentation Title: China-Africa engagement and the emergent spatialities of post-development
Dr Alexander Roy, Manchester Airports Group
Presentation Title: Developing the Manchester–China relationship: a case study of Manchester Airport
Mr Sheng Ying, UN-Habitat China
Presentation Title: Smart infrastructure promotes urban sustainability
Call for participants
A limited number of places are still available, and we are able to provide bursaries for early career participants. To express your interest in attending please email Dr Helen Zheng at helen.zheng@manchester.ac.uk by the 25th October 2019, noting your name and affiliation and a short paragraph about why you would like to attend.
The featured image of the Belt and Road Initiative map on the post cover is from: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/One-belt-one-road.svg