State strategy and peripheralization: The Beijing-Zhangjiakou Winter Olympics Corridor

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Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

This study examines the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Extended Winter Olympics Corridor, critically assessing how state-led initiatives like mega-events, green energy transitions, and mass tourism may foster centrality in peripheral areas or, on the contrary, could accentuate peripheralization. Once a deprived, heavily polluted mountainous area, Zhangjiakou has metamorphosed into a skiing-tourism hub and green energy supplier for tech giants like TikTok following its co-hosting of the 2022 Winter Olympics with Beijing. Nevertheless, historical analysis coupled with field research and expert interviews reveals an amplified marginalization of the local population, marked by significantly diminished access to land, resources, and employment, ensuing from commodification and mechanization of the mountainous landscapes. This research enriches the understanding of peripheralization by exploring its dialectical production and reproduction, emphasizing the dominance of the nation-state, the paradoxical role of centrality creation, and the marginalization in everyday life.