The informal constitution of state centrality: governing street businesses in (post‐)pandemic Chengdu, China

Abstract

As part of China's endeavour to modernize and internationalize its cities, it has repeatedly eliminated street markets and street vendors. But in the (post-)pandemic context, regulating street businesses inclusively turned out to be an efficient way to generate jobs that has been widely promoted. This turn reveals a new pattern in China's urban governance that might contribute to rethinking the state–informality nexus. In this article we draw on observations and interviews in Chengdu and on critical discourse analyses of related gover Show more