Grass through concrete: Authoritarian governance and the urban politics of minimal change
通过哈萨克斯坦采用俄罗斯规划标准的案例，揭示威权体制下政策企业家如何利用技术性话语推动低风险的城市现代化，以象征性改革巩固政权稳定。
Urban development plays an increasingly strategic – and often symbolic – role in contemporary authoritarian governance. This article shows how adapting policies from similar regimes emerges as a low-risk strategy for authoritarian decision-makers, offering urban modernisation without political disruption. Through process tracing, the paper reconstructs the policymaking process behind the adoption of a Russian planning Standard in Kazakhstan. The initiative was driven not by elite exchanges, but by local policy entrepreneurs who successfully built coalitions with semi-official actors and framed the proposal in politically safe, technocratic terms. The case illustrates that such initiatives can gain state-level traction when they align with regime goals, pose no political risks, and avoid demands for democratic participation. The findings reveal how non-binding urban planning tools are used not to transform institutions, but to perform reform – signalling modernity and reinforcing authoritarian stability. As such, the Standard exemplifies how contemporary authoritarian practices prioritise demonstrative modernisation over substantive change, projecting not only competence, but also a stylised image of expert-led collaboration that reinforces rather than challenges elite control.