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Why do residents participate in neighborhood affairs in different forms? This study probes this question by integrating the social capital framework and the place attachment framework. Drawing on a qualitative case study and survey data in the city of Guangzhou, China, this research demonstrates the differential effects of place attachment and social capital on different forms of neighborhood participation. Neighborhood attachment (i.e., place sentiment toward a neighborhood) serves as a prerequisite for any form of participation. While neighborhood attachment is sufficient for latent involvement, such as staying informed about neighborhood issues through social exchanges and other spontaneous activities, social capital produces mobilizing forces that motivate residents to move beyond the latent stage to influence community outcomes through manifest engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a socio-spatial analysis of the restructuring of Guangzhou, China, from 2000 to 2010, this study explores the spatiality of gentrification. We argue that gentrification processes in Guangzhou are best characterized as state-embedded gentrification wherein the spatiality of gentrification manifests the spatial selectivity of the hegemonic state. Specifically, Guangzhou's restructuring presents a pattern of suburban gentrification, coupled with sporadic inner-city gentrification. The city's spatial pattern of gentrification was shaped by the local state's spatial selectivity through land-driven development policies, such as administrative annexation, new-zone development, and urban renewal, which were intended to promote industrial upgrading and economic growth. While new-build gentrification was a key form of gentrification, the demographic changes in gentrified neighborhoods in Guangzhou were primarily attributed to the inflows of gentrifiers (especially those in knowledge-oriented or state sectors) instead of the physical displacement of disadvantaged groups. After critically interrogating the applicability and relevance of existing gentrification concepts to Chinese cities, we argue that the concept of state-embedded gentrification helps to articulate the nuanced exercise of state hegemony in gentrification. • Gentrification processes in Guangzhou (2000–2010) are best characterized by state-embedded gentrification • The spatiality of gentrification manifests the spatial selectivity of the hegemonic state • New-build gentrification was a key form • Gentrification was attributed more to the inflows of gentrifiers than the physical displacement of disadvantaged groups • State-embedded gentrification helps to articulate the nuanced exercise of state hegemony in gentrification [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]