Geospatial analysis of regional development in China: The case of Zhejiang Province and the Wenzhou Model

The paper, based on extensive field work and surveys, anlyzes in a GIS environment the multiscalar patterns and emerging clusters of regional development in Zhejiang Province (one of China's most rapidly growing) and Wenzhou Municipality (known for the Wenzhou Model of development based on private enterprise and rural industrialization). The authors first investigate the extent to which a traditional northeast-southwest divide has been replaced by emerging coastal-interior divide and whether, intraprovincial inequality in Zhejiang, especially rural intercounty inequality, has intensified as new development clusters have emerged. At a finer scale of investigation, they analyze the Wenzhou Model and explain the resulting patterns of change by addressing the role of localities, the state, and globalization.