The modalities of city-regional governance: creating a functional city-region of Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei

This paper examines the governance modalities that shape the production of functional spaces in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) city-region. We conceptualise city-regionalism as a process of functional space-making and identify four governance modalities: state-oriented managerialism, state-oriented entrepreneurialism, market-oriented managerialism and market-oriented entrepreneurialism. Drawing on extensive policy analysis and 40 semi-structured interviews, we show how these modalities reflect variegated state entrepreneurialism and operate across different governmental levels and market configurations. The findings contribute to an understanding of the differentiated strategies through which polycentric city-regions are produced, providing broader insights into city-regional governance under state–market transformations.