Dynamics, space, and regional inequality in provincial China: a case study of Guangdong province

This paper investigates the regional inequality in one of the most developed provinces in China, Guangdong, from 1979 to 2009 and follows the multi-scale and multi-mechanism framework. We have found a new round of intensifying inequality in Guangdong since the early 2000s, which is attributed to the widening gap between the core region of the Pearl River Delta (PRD) and the rest of the province (periphery) and between the urban and rural areas. The authors also apply a distribution dynamics approach and spatial Markov chains to identify the spatial-temporal dynamics of regional disparities in Guangdong. The results show that there has been a progressive bias towards a poverty trap in the province and the effect of self-reinforcing agglomeration is evident. Using a multilevel model, the study further unfolds that the regional inequality in Guangdong is sensitive to the core-periphery hierarchy of multi-mechanisms and reveals the relative influence of decentralization, marketization and globalization. We argue that the policies towards inequality-reducing in Guangdong have been constrained by the geographical barriers and the effect of self-reinforcing agglomeration in the PRD, while marketization has potential to mediate the uneven development driven by the spatial concentration of foreign investment.