Abstract
In the post-reform era, the rapid pace of urban growth in Chinese cities has attracted much academic attention. Along with the decentralization from central to local governments, local governments become the city promoters. Development projects, especially development zones and new cities are built by local governments since 1990s. In order to investigate the special type of city making, namely, local government-oriented city making, Ordos city, a mining city in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China, is taken as the study case. As an important mining city, Ordos has leveraged its advantage in coal resources and experienced fast economic development. To develop new industries, Ordos government decided to built a new city. Through the fieldwork conducted in 2011, it is found that the role of the local government in the production and development of the new city is direct and forceful. With the establishment of new city, the local government of Ordos created a new urban space for economic development and population growth.
