Andrew M. Marton is Reader in Chinese Geography in the Institute of Contemporary Chinese Studies at the University of Nottingham. He has contributed articles to numerous journals, including Asian Geographer and Pacific Affairs, and to the recent edited volumes Rural–Urban Transition and Development in China, and Hong Kong in China

'A major contribution to a number of recent geographical works on China that have been theoretically informed and have greatly enriched our understanding of 'transitions from socialism.' -Environment and Planning'A work like Marton's requires years of theoretical training and fieldwork, which, I believe, has the potential to claim "the highest form of the geographer's art".' -Environment and Planning 'A high quality contribution to understanding the mechanisms of the spatial transformation of the Chinese countryside.' -China Perspectives'This excellent book...deserves a wide readership not only among China specialists but also those concerned with development theory and practice.' -The China Journal 'Overall, this is a stimulating book full of empirical materials and theoretical insights' - The Geographical Journal

• Chapter 1. Introduction 1.1 Rationale, Scope and Objectives 1.2 Redefining a New Critical Regional Geography 1.2.1 Chinese Landscapes of Transformation and the Representation of Place 1.2.2 Regional Geography: As Method and as Theory 1.3 The Lower Yangzi Delta Region and Kunshan 1.4 Issues and Methodology 1.5 Organization of the Book Chapter 2. Regional Development and Industrialization: Towards Mega-Urbanization 2.1 Development Theory in Crisis: Beyond the Impasse 2.2 Confronting the Post-Modern Void: Taking Diversity Seriously 2.3 Linkages and the Transactional Revolution 2.4 A New Geography of Production: Making Space for Place 2.5 Cities, Towns, and Rural Transformation: The Chinese Development Debate 2.6 Rural and Urban in China's Regional Development: Seeking a Middle Ground 2.7 Mega-Urbanization in the Lower Yangzi Delta: Enterprise Location and the Reconstruction of Local Space Chapter 3. The Lower Yangzi Delta: Historical Geography and Contemporary Patterns of Change 3.1 The Lower Yangzi Delta From the Late Imperial Period 3.1.1 Natural Environment and Spatial Economic Structure 3.1.2 Rural-Urban Relations and the Urban Penumbra 3.2 Pre-Reform Political Economy 3.3 Reforms and Transformations in the Rural Economy 3.3.1 Changes in Agriculture 3.3.2 Township and Village Enterprises: New Shapes, Old Patterns 3.4 Spatial Economic Patterns in the Lower Yangzi Delta 3.5 At the Edge of Shanghai: Kunshan to the Fore Chapter 4. Structure of Local Government and Relationship to Enterprises 4.1 Bifurcation of the Functions of Local Government 4.1.1 Community Administration 4.1.2 Ownership and Management of Enterprises 4.2 Spatial Proliferation on Non-Agricultural Activities 4.3 Formalizing Local Institutional Structures in a Partially Reformed Command Economy 4.3.1 Capitalism With Chinese Characteristics 4.3.2 Individual Interactions and Interrelationships 4.3.3 Horizontal and Vertical Linkages 4.3.4 Economic Cooperation Commission 4.4 Socialist New Rur