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Nanjing: City Positioning and Development Strategies in the Twenty-First Century

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Development and Planning in Seven Major Coastal Cities in Southern and Eastern China

Part of the book series: GeoJournal Library ((GEJL,volume 120))

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Abstract

By arguing that distinctive positioning and sound branding are important for a city to raise its competitiveness, this chapter examines the city positioning and development strategies of Nanjing. Rich history and culture, and strong foundation of education and innovation are Nanjing’s outstanding advantages and uniqueness. However, Nanjing did not make good use of these advantages in city positioning and branding in the past. This chapter pinpoints that Nanjing should avoid the common problems of positioning and branding in China, i.e. indefinite, aimlessness, unrealistic, and lack of uniqueness and individuality. Based on the SWOT analysis and the study of the socio-economic and urban development plans of Nanjing, this chapter proposes that “hub of culture and wisdom” can be an appropriate positioning of Nanjing. This positioning can clearly demonstrate Nanjing’s advantages and individuality and fully represent the city. This positioning can also help to formulate good policies and sound plans to achieve spatial and economic goals of development.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Since there is no county-level city or county under the administration of Nanjing, the word city simply refers to the whole prefecture-level municipality in this chapter, unless specified.

  2. 2.

    The GDP figures before 1985 were not available.

  3. 3.

    The figure of petrochemical here is the sum of “raw chemical materials and chemical products” and “processing of petroleum, coking and processing of nuclear fuel”.

  4. 4.

    The figure excluded the students of adult and secondary technical schools and kindergartens.

  5. 5.

    For the details of these four different rankings, please see http://www.education18.com/ranking/world_ranking_china.html (in Chinese).

  6. 6.

    Nanjing’s per capita GDP in 2013 was about US$ 15,825 (average exchange rate was US$ 1 = RMB 6.1932), which was above the US$ 15,000 threshold indicating the stepping into the later stage of industrialization with the shift of dominating industrial activities from manufacturing and service industries to service industries (Liang et al. 2008, p. 277).

  7. 7.

    For example, economic activities are over-concentrated in the CBD—south of the Yangtze River, leave north of the River (Jiangbei) under-developed. As a result, there is a large gap of development level between the north and the south. Such large differences of development between urban and rural, among districts, and between north and south (of the River) are detrimental to the comprehensive development of the city (Nanjing Municipal Government 2011; Office of the Nanjing Municipal Government Urban Master Planning Work Group 2009).

  8. 8.

    For example, the difference to Suzhou expanded from about RMB 47 billion in 2000 to about RMB 500 billion in 2013, see Table 5.3 (Nanjing Municipal Statistics Bureau, 2014; Suzhou Municipal Statistical Bureau, 2014).

  9. 9.

    Nanjing’s utilized FDI accounted for about 12 % of Jiangsu only in 2013. Over 52 % of FDI to Jiangsu invested in manufacturing industries, but it is opposite in Nanjing. The secondary sector got a share of about 36 % only, while the tertiary sector occupied the remaining 64 % of FDI to Nanjing (Jiangsu Provincial Bureau of Statistics, 2014; Nanjing Municipal Statistics Bureau, 2014).

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Acknowledgments

Special thanks to Prof. Xiaolong Luo of the Department of Urban Planning and Design, Nanjing University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography and Resource Management, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong

    Jianfa Shen

  2. Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong

    Gordon Kee

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  1. Jianfa Shen
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Correspondence to Jianfa Shen .

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Shen, J., Kee, G. (2017). Nanjing: City Positioning and Development Strategies in the Twenty-First Century. In: Development and Planning in Seven Major Coastal Cities in Southern and Eastern China. GeoJournal Library, vol 120. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46421-3_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46421-3_7

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