Urban Growth Machine theory goes China: Adaptation, limits, and theoretical revisions in Post-Mao urbanization

Urban Growth Machine (UGM) theory has been widely used to explain land-driven urban development and growth-oriented urban politics. As China has undergone rapid urban transformation since the post-Mao reforms, UGM has increasingly been applied to interpret land commodification, property-led redevelopment, and local growth governance. However, China’s state-centric political–economic system—characterized by public land ownership, hierarchical governance, and strong state intervention—raises questions about the theory’s applicability beyond its original North American context. This article critically reviews how the UGM theory has been adopted, adapted, and contested in analyzing Chinese urbanization. Based on a systematic literature review, the article argues that Chinese urbanization has produced a state-centered growth machine in which local governments, state-owned enterprises, and hybrid public–private arrangements dominate land-based development. Further, even residents’ land-bound collectives (as with real estate companies by urban villagers) contribute to these uniquely Chinese-style growth machines. While UGM theory captures the centrality of land-based accumulation and growth incentives, it underestimates the role of state power, institutional specificity, and multi-level governance. The article proposes a revised, state-centered interpretation of growth machine theory and situates alternative frameworks as theoretical extensions rather than replacements. This contributes to broader debates on the global transformation of urban theories in non-liberal contexts.