Rapid urbanization has seen a concurrent growth of informal economies, which play an important role in alleviating urban unemployment and poverty. Following international efforts to integrate divergent theories on informality, this paper examines the causes of urban informal economies in China by deploying a panel data regression model that considers multiple explanatory factors informed by these theories. Our estimation based on the latest China Population Census shows that the size of urban informal employment in China reached 215 million and 22% of gross domestic product (GDP) output share was from urban informal economies. Our model reveals that the causes of urban informal economies in China are mainly associated with the stages of economic development, tertiarization of industries, unemployment, rural-to-urban migration, and globalization of urban economies. This paper adds evidence from the Chinese context to the emerging argument that informal economies cannot be fully explained by each mainstream informality theory, suggesting that these theories should be seen as complementary rather than opposing alternatives. The paper concludes with policy implications for urbanization in China.

With the improvement of urbanization in China, urban renewal has become the main way to meet the increasing demand of residents for urban space and facilities. In this context, this study takes “sense of place” as the theoretical starting point, takes Shaoguan Century-old East Street as the case, and constructs a relationship model between local residents’ sense of place and their willingness to support urban business district reconstruction from a multiscale perspective. By introducing community concern as a mediating variable, this study uses a structural equation model to analyze the influence of residents’ sense of place, including place attachment and place identity, on their intention to support commercial district reconstruction. The results show that residents’ sense of place is significantly different on the scales of block, community, and urban area, and the difference is only in place attachment, not in place identity. Second, the enhancement of residents’ sense of place can not only directly strengthen their willingness to support the renovation of commercial areas, but indirectly improve their willingness to support the renovation of urban commercial areas by enhancing their attention to the community. The conclusion of this study is of great significance to promote the regeneration of historical and cultural blocks and the process of urban renewal.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, the phenomenon of urban shrinkage, accompanied by symptoms of a structural crisis in urban areas, has spread on a global scale. The recent 2008 global economic crisis has been proven to have accelerated urban shrinkage in many previously prosperous cities. The city of Dongguan, which is known as the World’s Factory, suffered a manufacturing downturn and labor outflow induced by the crisis; however, it exhibited high resilience as it displayed a quick recovery in the postcrisis period. The notion of regional resilience and its potential applications can explain why urban and regional economies resist and adjust to internal and external challenges in a long-term development process. Based on the adaptive cycle analytical framework, this study focused on specific policies and plans initiated by the Dongguan municipality when it faced the financial crisis and its implementation effects. It contributes to current knowledge by elaborating on how the local state reacted to and coped with crisis-induced shrinkage and by providing a valuable case for exploring the dynamic evolution of shrinkage and resurgence in the context of globalization. Three main resilient strategies are identified: (1) moving toward a more diversified industrial structure; (2) highlighting endogenous momentums in economic transition; and (3) advancing the equalization of social welfare for local residences. Moreover, it provides implications for the urban planning community on how to respond to uncertainty and vulnerability from the perspective of regional resilience.