The Cultural Production of Consumerist Landscapes in Global Cities --

The Housing Landscape in Shanghai

Wu, Hsin-ling 

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Department of Geography, National Taiwan University d91228002@ntu.edu.tw

 

Introduction• With the East Asian cities became increasingly integrated into

regional and global circuits and rose to global prominence during the 1990s, there are many redevelopment projects carried out to reshape the urban space. On their way to going global, cityscapes are undergoing a huge transformation to consumerist ones.

• Most of the studies on landscape transformation of global cities focus on the consumerist landscapes in the form of urban mega-projects (Bunnell, 1999; Harvey, 1993; Olds, 1995). Skyscrapers, office complexes, shopping malls, exhibition hall or convention centres are the key analysis objects among them.

• However, housing landscape represents the social reproduction field is often excluded in these studies.

Research Background

• Since China’s economic reform in the 1980s and 1990s, housing developers have eagerly courted China’s emerging “new rich” consumers who take advantage from the market reform.

• Far from being just a functional space for living, the house now embodies and signifies personal desires, aspirations and social stature in the post-reform era.

• Maybe it’s new for western cities, but it’s new for China cities after market reform.

perspectives• Most of the literature on housing landscape

are situated in these two contexts– gentrification

• for new middle class or global gentrifers• Political economic approach

– new urban strategy– state-sponsored

– gated community• new lifestyle• good life• new definition of home

perspective

• By situating housing landscapes in the global city consumerist landscapes context,– It’s helpful to understand the social and cultural

process of global city formation – to clarify why and how the housing landscapes of

global city reveal in such styles.– How and why they are acceptable to these emerging

new rich in Shanghai?• Many have talked about the formal institutional twist for

the shift in accumulation methods, but the cultural and social twist which maybe come slower is also very critical.

perspective

• Imagineering– was coined by Walt Disney Studios to describe its strategy

of combining imagination with engineering to create the reality of dreams in creating theme parks

– According to Paul(2004), – urban elites promote a particular set of values and goals

through an ‘globally’ themed built environment and spectacle. It’s a similar matter with Walt Disney Studio.

– studies of urban imagineering tend to emphasize the external orientation of such place-based development strategies, but the practice of managing identity, loyalty and image within the city, the inner orientation, should not be neglected, which is conducted in this paper.

Research background and method

• This study is conducted by the advertisement analysis.

• Data source– advertisements source ： widely-circulated local

magazine Shanghai Realty Information magazine (Shanghai Loushi).

– Published between 2005/8 to 2006/7

Research findings

Cosmopolitanism

Transnational team and

capital

Hybridity of the east and

the west

old Shanghai

Following the international

currents

International community

Exotic design

Ecology and healthy life

Ecology environment

waterfront

garden

Slow and comfortable

life

Nostalgia taste

traditional building

blended with western style

Glorious 20’ and 30’

Aer deco and neoclassism

Old building elements

Transnational elites as

neighbors

Historic heritage

Luxurious living

Private space

Exuberance villa

Single villa

Separated island

Elites’ statusInternational school

condominium facilities

Cosmopolitan imagination• International architecture company, investment

agency, property management company or famous international designer• “with the transnational capital from Morgan Stanley, it’s the

evidence that we’ll bring you a good life with international high-level.” (Forte Elegant Garden)

• western-style dwelling

Cosmopolitan imagination

• Using transnational elites or foreigners as celebrities– “40% of your neighbors are

foreigners.” 〈 Bund Garden 〉– “You may live with elites and

professors who used to study abroad and enjoy an American styled living.”

– “Many clients who choose 〈 Long Beach 〉 have lived abroad for a long time. Their children all study in the international schools nearby.” 〈 Long Beach Garden Villa 〉

Nostalgia taste

• Drawing on 20’s and 30’ old shanghai– concession history

• “We treasure a special memory of old Shanghainess. To live here, we may touch the pulsation of Shanghai city development.” 〈 Forte Elegant Garden 〉

– reproducing old architectural style and elements

• “blending the art deco and neoclassicism at Concession stage. We try to embody the Shanghai spirit through the architectural language “ 〈 Aijia Royal Court 〉

Ecology and healthy life• Ecology environment

– Garden– Grass– Waterfront

• River

• lake

Luxurious style

• refined interior decoration– Antique furniture

• private gardens

• grandiose images and extravagant lifestyles of rich and powerful elites

Exclusive housing landscapes

Promoting a set of new values

• Creating exclusive residential space– Just for city elites

• Selling lifestyles and good life– they are selling the dream of having good life

and new lifestyles to their consumers, and tell consumers that buying a house is not only for a safety home, but also for belonging to a specific group or class.

• Why are these four themes? Under the imaginary, what particular set of values the developers want to promote?

• having status and power through acquiring cultural and symbolic capitals– Developers attempt to connect their property to a

global imaginary and simultaneously appropriate the “shanghai nostalgia” as a means to maintain an unique identity. The capacity for “consuming” Shanghai nostalgia can make the new rich become the nobles of ‘old Shanghai’.

– By drawing on and regenerating remnants of the past, developers attempt to project the property as a place with abundant cultural and symbolic capital which are necessary for these new rich to own higher status.

• extracting middle class’s values from western cities– Preference for hybridity and difference which is the

characteristics of ‘consumerist cosmopolitanism’ in western city now has become the manifestation of being city elites of Shanghai.

– Emphasizing the roles of transnational elites in the advertisement is meaningful not only because they are representative of having good life, but also because of their image of living in a global space. Developers intend to construct a imagined community, and the transnational elites are the role model for the new rich on the process of forming a new global identity.

Conclusion

• Becoming a global city, the idea that culture can be employed as a driver for urban economic growth has become part of the new orthodoxy. Now it’s also used by the developers, too.

• Global cities are middle class cities. By situating the housing landscapes into the global city consumerist landscapes, I’ll argue that by the process of imagineering, developers intend to transfer “new rich” to ‘middle class’ in terms of consumption field, which is helpful for them to keep on accumulating capitals in Shanghai.

• By the cultural and spatial imagineering, the speed of a cultural and social twist is accelerated, and a consumption culture of New Rich is forming.

Thank you for your attention!