The “Medical City” in the hands of China’s Entrepreneurial States: Capitalizing on the Rising Consumerism in Healthcare

Keywords: Medical City, State Entrepreneurialism, Consumerism, Healthcare, Hospitals, China
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Sunday
Session Start / End Time: 2/27/2022 05:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/27/2022 06:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 30

Abstract

The role of hospitals has significantly changed over the past decades and the “medical
city” has emerged as a new urban phenomenon in China. However, research on the significance
of the medical city to China’s urbanism is limited. This paper, through the lens of consumerism in
healthcare, situates China’s medical city in the theory of state entrepreneurialism. Particularly
focusing on the state-market and production-consumption dyads, the paper argues that the state
has engineered the institutional and market legitimacy for the rise of consumerism in healthcare
and allows the medical city, as a market instrument, to capitalize on the consumption of healthcare
to advance the healthcare reform and capture economic opportunities. This argument is
substantiated by a case study on the Shanghai New Hongqiao International Medical Center, which
focuses on the public-private partnerships in the medical city. It is found that while the medical
city is based on private sector participation, the state’s presence is diffused in the governance and
management of the medical city through the public-private partnerships, which reflects the
characteristics of state entrepreneurialism. The findings add to the theory on China’s urbanism
with new sets of materials and render important implications for the urban future in China.