Inventory land era and transformation of China's urban regeneration: An empirical study of Chengdu Hi-Tech West District, China

In the past, under the GDP-centered promotion tournament, the growth coalition theory was often used to explain commercial and residential district regeneration in China, which was property-led and profit-driven. However, currently, due to the new domestic and international environment, China is undergoing an unprecedented and profound transformation and entering the inventory land era, leading to significant changes in the assessment system for local officials. Specifically, the new assessment system incorporates a diverse array of indicators beyond mere economic growth, signifying a transition from a GDP-centered to a multi-objective promotion tournament. Consequently, in this new context, the traditional growth coalition is no longer sufficient to theorize current urban regeneration. Additionally, industrial district regeneration, the mechanism of which may differ from commercial and residential district regeneration, was often neglected before and requires further investigation. Through the case study of Chengdu Hi-tech West District, this study explores the transformation of Chinese urban regeneration in this new era. It argues that China's governmental assessment system has adjusted by dismantling the previous promotion tournament model based on economic growth in the new era. Under the multi-objective promotion tournament, local officials now consider other aspects in addition to economic growth. For them, IDR has been treated as an effective approach to protecting cropland, undertaking new enterprises with limited space, and becoming the flagship in promoting economical and intensive land use, all of which are of great concern to the central government. Therefore, local officials are keen on industrial district regeneration now, even though it does not yield direct and immediate economic benefits. In this process, they mobilize other actors and leverage key resources to achieve and balance their multiple goals. Accordingly, the traditional growth coalition is declining, while a new kind of coalition based on high-quality development is emerging.