Tim Oakes is Professor of Geography and Director of the Center for Asian Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder. Most of his work explores the uses and reinventions of local culture as a resource for economic development and governance objectives in contemporary China. His recent research considers the development and use of leisure and consumption spaces in China’s urban areas, as well as in urbanizing areas of rural China. Tim is currently the project director for “China Made: Asian Infrastructures and the ‘China Model’ of Development” (chinamadeproject.net), funded by The Henry Luce Foundation. China Made is a collaboration with the Hong Kong Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences and the Asian Research Institute at the National University of Singapore. The project explores the technopolitical and sociotechnical dimensions of China’s infrastructure development. As part of this project, Tim is currently working on urban planning and infrastructural urbanism in China’s ‘New Area’ urban zones.