Developing a Competitive Pearl River Delta in South China Under One Country-Two Systems

The Greater Pearl River Delta in south China with a population of 47 million is one of the largest metropolitan regions in the world and one of the fastest growing regions in China. This edited volume examines the economic, social, environmental, infrastructure, institutional and legal issues of developing the Greater Pearl River Delta including Hong Kong and Macau into a competitive region under ‘One Country, Two Systems’.

The Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong governments face a major challenge in developing the region given its great disparity in wages and living standards. In the past, the region was mainly focused on one or two clearly defined central cities. Today, it is becoming increasingly polycentric with a number of former peripheral and rural areas developing into active economic centres in their own right with resulting intercity and cross-border competitive pressures and social problems. Globalization has made more acute the need for such regional cooperation between economies that are at very different levels of development and possess very different social, economic, political and legal systems.

To meet this need, this book provides a comprehensive review of many important aspects of regional development in the Greater Pearl River Delta region under the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ principle including its economic development, and examines how sustainable growth in terms of social equality, enhanced quality of life, better education and employment opportunities for the people in the region can be achieved.

This book will be of great interest to those doing business in the Pearl River Delta, and China more broadly. It is also of relevance to readers in China studies, development studies, economic development, geography, politics, sociology, environmental management, and regional development.

Anthony Gar-on Yeh is Chair Professor of the Centre of Urban Planning and Environmental Management, Dean of the Graduate School, Director of the Geographical/Land Information System Research Centre and the Institute of Transport Studies at the University of Hong Kong. Victor Fung-shuen Sit is Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Hong Kong. Guanghan Chen is Professor of Economics and Director of the Centre for Studies of Hong Kong, Macau and Pearl River Delta at Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou. Yunyuan Zhou is Professor in the Centre for Studies of Hong Kong, Macau and Pearl River Delta at Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou.