The rhetoric and reality of culture-led urban regeneration - a comparison of Beijing and Shanghai, China

Abstract

It did not take long for Chinese cities to embrace the fashion of culture-led urban regeneration. Forerunner is Beijing 798, wherein a semi-abandoned factory was gradually turns to an artistic production base by spontaneous agglomeration of artists. The Shanghai municipal government showed a more entrepreneurial mind by announcing the Cultural Rehabilitation of Industrial Buildings plan in 2004. The first project initiated by the government is Shanghai Sculpture Space, which is envisaged as a role model for heritage rehabilitation and an incubator of creative industry. Driven by global city making, both two cities see culture as a key to bolster a new economy and to deal with decayed urban sites. Meanwhile, differences are detectable due to the various roles assigned to culture by the two cities respectively. When Beijing has long claimed its orthodoxy of Chinese culture, taking art production as one pillar industry; Shanghai hardly hides its absorptive and sometimes eclectic nature, caring more on global standard of art consumption. This paper attempts to analyze the differences of the two culture-led regeneration projects, the spatial outputs of which stem from different cultural circumstances and, respond to power relationships of a variety of actors in the urban regimes.