The fusion of dimensions: Planning, infrastructure and Transborder Space of Luohu Port, Shenzhen, China

• Published in: Cities Vol. 73; pp. 14 - 23
• Main Authors: Tan, Zheng, Xue, Charlie Q.L., Xiao, Yingbo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2018; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Borders; Boundaries; Case studies; Chinese Mainland-Hong Kong relations; Companies; Construction; Cooperation; Geopolitics; Infrastructure; Infrastructure space; Innovations; Interest groups; Land ports; Multi-dimensional analysis; Planning; Space vehicles; Stakeholders; Transportation; Hong Kong China; China; Land ports; Multi-dimensional analysis; Chinese Mainland-Hong Kong relations; Planning; Infrastructure space
• ISSN: 0264-2751; 1873-6084
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2017.10.003

This paper explores the transborder infrastructure along the Chinese mainland-Hong Kong boundary at Shenzhen through a case study of Luohu Port. Such exploration is timely because the increasing supranational and subnational transborder activities have formed a system of connections that is contested by multiscalar forces from the state, corporations, and the market. Luohu Port at Shenzhen exhibits how the transborder infrastructure engages with the multiscalar activities and complex geopolitical tensions between mainland China and Hong Kong. Despite the long-standing social and economic gap across the boundary, infrastructural innovations were employed to lubricate the border crossing experience. Advancement in technologies, transportation, and space design is essential in the construction of a more permeable border (or boundary). This paper uses a multi-dimensional analytic tool that is based on the TPSN framework to identify the stakeholders involved in shaping Luohu Port. This investigation arrives at the conclusion that the existing ad hoc strategy for the mainland-Hong Kong boundary should give way to a more responsible and foresighted plan targeting long-term regional cooperation.