| Recently many studies on globalization have shown that foreign investments are playing an increasingly important role in shaping urban growth. Yet, the connection between foreign investments and city making, especially in developing countries, has not been adequately conceptualized. This lacuna results from the disjunction between the existing related literatures. On the one side, research on foreign investments is dominated by nation-state or regional analyses in which variables of urban features are largely neglected. On the other side, few city making studies view foreign investments as a major force of urban formation. This research seeks to close this lacuna through panel data analysis and ethnographic observation with a case study of cities in Yangtze River Delta (YRD) in China. With a focus on urban features and governance, the bilateral associations between foreign investments and city making are examined.;Generally, this research confirms that foreign investments and urban development are closely correlated in the region of Yangtze River Delta, China. Foreign investments have become a major driver of urban development since the early 1990s. And the surge of foreign investments has distorted the distributive pattern of local government expenditure and urban employment diversity. Moreover, this research discloses that the influence of foreign investments has diffused into urban space, changing the land use composition and urban segregation. Finally, this research uncovers that foreign investments are actively participating in urban planning system.;In all, the findings of this research will help highlight a reasonable direction for those who are seeking an optimal policy package of foreign investment management according to local milieu. Also, this research will enrich, the existing literature of globalization and city making with a special case study from a transitional developing country. Finally, this research will contribute to people's understanding about how places could be transformed by transnational flows of capital, labor, knowledge, power, etc. |
