The recent economic transformation in Pearl River Delta/China has resulted in massive megaurbanization, which is at least partly driven by informal processes. To the most severe problems belong the high informal migration and the almost collapsed health-care system. Against this background the research project aims at a deepened understanding of the connection between highly complex and informal megaurban processes – here: the connection and dynamics between flows of informal migration and megaurban health strategies – and the mutual forms and effects of global change as well as the reorganisation of spatial, social, and institutional relationships in the megacities. How are different groups of informal migrants affected by the devastated health care systems, how do different stakeholders react, how are different levels of administration (central and local levels) reacting to this complex interplay of local, national and supranational agents, and how does this condition the regime’s stability and legitimacy?

Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Bettina Gransow (FU Berlin) und Prof. Dr. Frauke Kraas (Universität Köln) Projektpartner: Prof. Xue Desheng, Prof. Zhou Daming, Sun Yat-sen Universität Kanton Projektteam Berlin: Heike Schmidbauer, Yuan Yuan, Christian Schnack Kontakt: bgransow [at] zedat.fu-berlin.de

Webseite: www.megacities-megachallenge.org