Transformation of cross-boundary governance in the Greater Pearl River Delta, China: Contested geopolitics and emerging conflicts

Drawing upon the perspective of state rescaling in city-region governance, this paper explores the transformation of cross-boundary governance in the Greater Pearl River Delta (GPRD), a cross-boundary region on the South China coast consisting of the PRD under the jurisdiction of Guangdong Province, and Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions (SARs). Based on updated field investigation and in-depth interviews between 2008 and 2012, the study argues that the Greater PRD has undergone dramatic restructuring of regional governance since mid 2000s, reflected by rescaling attempts initiated by Guangdong provincial government and bottom-up resistance from local residents in Hong Kong. The interaction of the rescaling dynamics has engendered the contested geopolitics of the cross-boundary governance as the regional integration intensified. Notably, the complexity of cross-boundary governance has been heightened by emerging conflicts, resulted from the increasing number of mainlanders as ‘individual visitors’ to Hong Kong since the implementation of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), the first bilateral free trade agreement between Hong Kong and China effective from 2004. By examining the Greater PRD as a salient mega city-region, the present study enriches the growing literature on state rescaling and cross-border governance in contemporary globalization.