Chinas Belt and Road Initiative

Large-scale infrastructure projects promise regional development and prosperity— But is this truly the case? This is a key question asked in the research consortium ‘De:link//Re:link: Local perspectives on transregional processes of entanglements and disentanglements— investigating local impacts of China’s Belt and Road Initiative’ introduced in 2013.

The research network "De:link//Re:link: Local perspectives on transregional processes of entanglements and disentanglements" uses the example of the Belt and Road Initiative to investigate new spatial configurations and local perspectives on transregional infrastructure projects in Asia, Africa and Europe. 

The Belt and Road Initiative, initiated by China in 2013, serves as a case study for the network.

The focus of the project is on Germany and Pakistan, where the project team examines the influence of Chinese presence around the inland port of Duisburg—the end point of the New Silk Road in Europe—and along the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor. From a process-oriented perspective, a PhD dissertation will generate knowledge on the following questions: 

How are local societies influenced by the implemen-
tation of large-scale infrastructure projects? How do 
projects gain acceptance, and what change pro-
cesses are induced by Chinese–local encounters?

For more details, visit the project website