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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]

Although changes in urban space often mean a restructuring of social relations, few studies elucidate why network-related frameworks are inherently related to residential outcomes in urban neighborhoods. By proposing a relational account of neighborhood governance, we investigate outcomes of neighborhood governance by incorporating a series of measures of network forms of organization, network-based social capital, and neighborly interactions. Based on a collaborative survey project conducted in Guangzhou, we find that neighborhood ties and neighborly interactions are positively associated with neighborhood attachment and cohesion, whereas uneven power relations between grassroots governments and civic homeowners associations are negatively associated with these two measures. These results not only reveal new social dynamics in urban space but also lend support to a relational account of neighborhood governance. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]