中文摘要：

中国城市研究的主流理论视角一直忽视国家的内部空间分异，国家空间理论的发展为从理论上重新审视国家的空间分异提供了的可能。在此基础上，介绍了国家空间视角的内涵及其在海外地理学研究中的发展与应用，分析了中国城市内部的国家空间组织的独特性及国家空间重构实践的丰富性，指出这种理论视角在中国城市研究中具有显著的应用可能性和必要性，并基于中国城市的政治经济背景提出了中国化的国家空间概念与分析框架。在此基础上，探讨了基于国家空间视角的重要城市研究议题及其可能面临的挑战与局限性。

英文摘要：

The spatial differentiation of state is not a major concem in the mainstream Chinese urban studies yet. The state is viewed as a crucial actor in the production of urban space or a key producer of the urban space. However, the spatiality of state, along with its role in the production of urban space, is neglected tradi- tionally in the urban studies of Chinese context. This theoretical tradition leads to a number of academic is- sues. At the practitioner side, the spatial differentiation is a strategy employed by municipal governments to promote city development and space production in particular places or scales and it could be understood in the traditional theoretical framework Therefore, the academia needs to pay more attention to the spatial dif- ferentiation of state in term of the organization and distribution of state powers, public policies, and state- owned resources in Chinese municipalities, and there is immediate demands to search for new theoretical frameworks beyond the traditional ones,. This paper holds that the development of state-space theory in the Western academia provides an opportunity for re-theorizing the spatial differentiation of state and its role in the urban spatial process. Based on an analysis over the institutional difference between China and its West- ern counterpart, the paper finds great potential and necessity of state space theory in urban studies. The paper conceptualizes the state space process in the context of Chinese cities. The state space process at this level represents the intertwined triple processes--the spatial process of state power structure, the spatial process of state intervention strategy and policy, and the spatial distributive process of state-owned resources. Finally, the paper discusses the challenges and limitations. The traditional ambiguous worldview over the ＂national＂and ＂local＂ states can constrain the understanding of the fruitful meanings of state space.