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Existing studies on city-regionalism as geopolitical processes tend to overuse the concept of the “state” or conflate the roles of the state and the central government. To explore the joint operation of central and local governments in city-regionalism as geopolitical processes, this paper proposes an analytical framework of city-region strategic coupling. This framework emphasizes that although the interests and objectives of the central and local governments are not completely identical, both sides realize strategic coupling through dynamic adjustment and strategic interaction under changing contexts. In this way, the city-region can both serve national strategies and meet local developmental demands, thereby advancing city-regionalism as geopolitical processes. Taking the Kunming city-region in China as a case study, this paper shows that the central government has supported the Kunming city-region through infrastructure investment so that it may become a radiation center facing Southeast Asia, thereby strengthening geopolitical and geoeconomic relations with Southeast Asian countries. The Yunnan government has not merely acted as a passive executor but has also used national strategies to achieve its own local development goals.
Yang et al. (Fri,) studied this question.