Pseudo use value and output legitimacy of local growth coalitions in China: A case study of the Liede redevelopment project in Guangzhou

Abstract Existing research on the growth coalition of China mainly focuses on the process of urban land development and concludes that the strategic alliance of local states and market gradually emerged with the exclusion of communities in the course of development. Empirical evidence on whether or not a coalition can involve the villagers and how a coalition capacity is delivered with legitimacy is lacking. This research revisits the growth machine thesis in the redevelopment of an urban village in Guangzhou where pseudo use value is examined. Pseudo use value reflects a hybrid of the appreciation of land, which incorporates the nostalgia for the rural past and the desire for improvement. Results show that complementary expectations in the redevelopment of urban village formed an ad hoc growth coalition that incorporates the municipal government, private developers, and villagers. The generation of output legitimacy is grounded on frequent exchange of resources (i.e., land, private capital, manpower, and regulatory capacities), which also relies on empowerment and an intermediary made of the rural collective to stimulate coalition capacity. Pseudo use value makes indigenous villagers a part of the growth machine. Although the formation of local growth coalition acknowledges the role of private developers and villagers, a counterpart emerged in which the development became a political rhetoric for achieving recentralized land governance.