Hierarchy, Negotiation, Competition and Protest: Multi-Actor Interaction in Building High-Speed Railway Oriented New Town in China

Abstract

High-Speed Railway (HSR) station area development, while well studied in Europe as part of mega-projects and transit-oriented development, takes on a different form in China. The HSR-New Town (HSR-NT) strategy has expanded rapidly, turning from targeted urban reconstruction into a widespread “nationwide fever.” Problems include land enclosure in urban peripheries, unsustainable fiscal burdens from primary land markets, and declining market interest under tightening national housing and land policies. This paper applies actor-centred institutionalism to examine the decision-making and implementation of HSR-NTs, focusing on Wuhan station as a case study. Drawing on two fieldwork trips (2010–2012) and twelve in-depth interviews with planners, civil servants, urban designers, and architects, the research analyses how interactions between multiple actors shaped outcomes. It highlights institutional drivers, collective action problems, and the contested dynamics of hierarchy, negotiation, competition, and protest in HSR-NT planning and implementation.