A multi-scalar view of urban financialization: urban development and local government bonds in China
研究中国地方政府债券如何通过多层级政府结构实现受监管的城市金融化，揭示中央与地方在债务融资中的调控机制。
How urban financialization is achieved across different government levels receives limited attention. This study addresses the gap by examining the deployment of China’s local government bonds (LGBs). LGBs introduce a distinct financialization process in which the government relies on debt-financing for urban development, but in a regulated way to constrain financial risks. Urban financialization is realized through the multi-scalar structure of the government. The centralized procedure strengthens central and provincial regulations on local development projects. The multi-scalar government not only facilitates urban financialization but also executes statecraft by designing the process.