Chinese State Capital and the Politics of Mega Infrastructure in Sri Lanka

Abstract

This dissertation concerns the growing role of China, specifically Chinese state capital, in reshaping the built environment through financing, building, and operating mega infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka over the past two decades. In the early 21st century, China quickly emerged as the world’s largest official financier of infrastructure projects around the world, providing a cumulative total of nearly one trillion U.S. dollars by 2022. Of the 165 recipient countries, Sri Lanka stands out as a country that has seen one of the most dramatic – and uneven – restructuring of urban space. Observing that China-backed megaprojects had divergent performance and spatial outcomes in Sri Lanka during Mahinda Rajapaksa’s presidency, the dissertation explains this curious within-country variation by comparing three China-backed megaproject cases with otherwise similar characteristics. Why did the Colombo Port City project succeed in producing early agglomeration effects while the Mattala Airport project became a wasteful “white elephant”? Why did the Hambantota Port project become more successful over time after initial struggles? The dissertation finds that the length of time horizon in Chinese state capital and the degree of power concentration in Sri Lanka’s planning process are key determinants. It shows how a toxic combination of an authoritarian approach to planning in Sri Lanka and short-term oriented Chinese capital can lead to mega infrastructure projects built at the wrong scale, at the wrong place, or at the wrong time. It also shows how a patient form of Chinese state capital and a more inclusive approach to planning can result in better performance. In so doing, the dissertation highlights the politics of risk allocation. It details the circumstances under which specific risk management strategies were adopted, and how different incentive structures shape the relationship between planning power and Chinese capital. While the dissertation is focused on Sri Lanka, the findings hold broader implications for the theory and practice of megaproject planning across the Global South.