Chinese Cities

The Courses

Here is a detailed overview of what will be discussed during the courses

1 / Tuesday 28 January 2025

城市 - from the ancient to the new

We introduce the general spatial organization of China, some major urban and architectural traditions with example of ancient housing typologies for a few major cities. We also examine the successive generations of planning imaginaries that lead China's urbanization since the last century.

Main Reading : Wu, Fulong. “Introduction: leaving the soil” in _Creating Chinese Urbanism: Urban Revolution and Governance Changes._ (p.1-21) London: UCL Press, 2022\.
Additional readings :
  • Graezer Bideau, Florence. “Planning: From Model to Modules.” in Realtime: Making Digital China (p. 41-59), EPFL Press 2020.
  • Ang, Yuen Yuen. How China Escaped the Poverty Trap. Cornell University Press, 2016. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctt1zgwm1j.
  • "Neville Mars - The Chinese Dream: A Society Under Construction"
  • "Brendan McGetrick & Jiang Jun - Urban China Work in Progress"

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2 / Tuesday 4 February 2025

地 - Land: governance and territorial reforms

We dive into China's governance models and land reform policies, particularly focusing on Local Government Financing Vehicles. We see the role played by land property development in the urbanization of China, and how it relates to the administration of cities.

Main Reading : Ong, Lynette H. “State-Led Urbanization in China: Skyscrapers, Land Revenue and ‘Concentrated Villages.’” The China Quarterly 217 (March 2014): 162–79. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305741014000010.
Additional readings :
  • "Chen, Ting. 2017. State Beyond the State: Shenzhen and the Transformation of Urban China. Rotterdam: nai010 publishers."
  • "Wu, Fulong. “The Long Shadow of the State: Financializing the Chinese City.” Urban Geography 44, no. 1 (January 2, 2023): 37–58. https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2021.1959779."
  • "Documentary: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chinese_Mayor"
  • Tomba, Luigi. 2014. Chapter 2 “Micro-Governing the Urban Crisis”. The Government Next Door: Neighborhood Politics in Urban China. Ithaca; London, Cornell University Press.
  • Hsing, You-tien. 2006. "Land and Territorial Politics in Urban China." The China Quarterly (187):575-591
  • Wang, June, and George S. M. Li. 2017. “State territorialization, neoliberal governmentality: the remaking of Dafen oil painting village, Shenzhen, China.” Urban Geography 38(5):708- 728.

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3 / Tuesday 11 February 2025

[ABSENT] Japanese cities

I'll be absent that week and you will have a replacement course about Japanese cities


4 / Tuesday 18 February 2025

[ABSENT] Chengdu

I'll be absent that week and you will have a replacement course about the city of Chengdu


x / Tuesday 25 February 2025

[OFF] Semester break


5 / Tuesday 4 March 2025

造 - Infrastructures: building the Made in China

We explore the long tradition and recent developments of China's large infrastructure projects, from factory cities to larger global projects. We examine its role in the production of global infrastructures today, especially of digital.

Main Reading : "O’Donnell, Mary Ann. “From Bamboo Curtain to the Silicon Valley of Hardware.” E-Flux, August 2020. https://www.e-flux.com/architecture/software/337686/from-bamboo-curtain-to-the-silicon-valley-of-hardware"
Additional readings :
  • Al, Stefan. Factory Towns of South China. Edited by Stefan Al. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2012. https://hkupress.hku.hk/pro/261.php.
  • Vlassenrood, Linda, ed. Shenzhen: From Factory of the World to World City. Almere: nai010 publishers, 2016.
  • "Hilgefort and Li in Realtime: Making Digital China. Lausanne: EPFL Press, 2020."
  • "Xiao, Zhongxian. “Conceiving Chinese Speed: Sociotechnical Imaginaries of High-Speed Rail in Post-1978 China.” Made in China Journal (blog), December 22, 2023. https://madeinchinajournal.com/2023/12/22/conceiving-chinese-speed-sociotechnical-imaginaries-of-high-speed-rail-in-post-1978-china/."

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6 / Tuesday 11 March 2025

移 - Migrations: becoming urban

We analyse China's historical and contemporary migration patterns, focusing on the hukou system and the experiences of urbanization for hundred of millions of people. We also investigate the formation of urban villages and the absorbtion of the rural within Chinese urban areas.

Main Reading : - "Documentary: Last Train Home (Directed by Fan Lixin, 2011)"
Additional readings :
  • "Franceschini, Ivan. “The Urbanisation of People: A Conversation with Eli Friedman.” Made in China Journal (blog), June 13, 2022. https://madeinchinajournal.com/2022/06/13/the-urbanisation-of-people/"
  • Liu, Tao, and Qiujie Shi. 2020. "Acquiring a Beijing hukou: Who Is Eligible and Who Is Successful?" The China Quarterly 243: 855-868.
  • "Movie « 6th generation » movie directors : Jia Zhangke - 24 City / Jia Zhangke - the world /Wang Xiaoshuai - Chinese Portrait"
  • [ChengZhongCun, in-formality](https://www.in-formality.com/wiki/index.php?title=Chengzhongcun_(China)"
  • "Bach, Jonathan P. G. “Shenzhen: From Exception to Rule.” In Learning from Shenzhen: China’s Post-Mao Experiment from Special Zone to Model City, edited by Mary Ann O’Donnell and Winnie Won Yin Wong. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2017. DOI:10.7208/chicago/9780226401263.003.0002."
  • "O’Donnell, Mary Ann. “The End of an Era? Two Decades of Shenzhen Urban Villages.” Made in China Journal (blog), December 1, 2021. https://madeinchinajournal.com/2021/12/01/the-end-of-an-era-two-decades-of-shenzhen-urban-villages/."

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7 / Tuesday 18 March 2025

创 - Innovation: Created in China

We review the sucessive waves of industrial policies and how discourses about innovation have shaped urban culture over the last decades. We look at the emergence of various creative clusters, hubs and spaces dedicated to innovations ('maker' spaces, coworking spaces, etc).

Main Reading : Wang, Jing. “The Makers Are Coming ! China’s Long Tail.” In Handbook of Cultural and Creative Industries in China, edited by Michael Keane, 43–63. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2016.
Additional readings :
  • "Lindtner, Silvia. Prototype Nation: China and the Contested Promise of Innovation. Princeton University Press, 2020. https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691207674/prototype-nation."
  • Renaud, “Global Entanglements in Digital Territories. The Huaqiangbei District in Shenzhen.” - Sciences Po
  • "Greenspan, Anna. Shanghai Future: Modernity Remade. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014."
  • "Renaud, Clément, Valérie Fernandez, Gilles Puel, and Feng Zhen. “Urban Modes of Assemblage: The Changing Spaces of Innovation in Shanghai.” Management International Review 23, no. 3 (January 2018): 131–40."

8 / Tuesday 25 March 2025

家 - Family: the aging city

We will look into how the spatial transformations of China have profoundly reshaped the way family and generations live together. We will see where and how in the city elderly people, kids, infants and workers usually evolves and the life of families that does not under the same roof anymore. This course will also give us the opportunity to interrogate gender representations and in Chinese cities.

Main Reading : TBD
Additional readings :
  • Rochot, Justine. “‘Our Generation’: The Making of Collective Identifications in China and Taiwan.” China Perspectives, no. 2022/1 (March 1, 2022): 3–7. https://doi.org/10.4000/chinaperspectives.13469.
  • Rochot, Justine. “New Perspectives on Aging in Contemporary China… and Beyond.” Gis Asie (blog). Accessed January 21, 2025. https://www.gis-reseau-asie.org/en/article/new-perspectives-aging-contemporary-china-and-beyond.
  • Hanser, Amy. 2005. “The Gendered Rice Bowl: The Sexual Politics of Service Work in Urban China.” Gender and Society 19(5):581-600.

9 / Tuesday 1 April 2025

闹 - Activism: the right to the city

China's urban development have encountered countless issues and complex situations, leading to frequent protestations and sometimes even large unrests. We discuss the various forms of activism in Chinese cities, from environmental protests heritage preservation, and houseowners strikes.

Main Reading : TBD
Additional readings :
  • "Ning, Ou. Utopia in Practice: Bishan Project and Rural Reconstruction. Contemporary East Asian Visual Cultures, Societies and Politics. Singapore: Springer, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-5791-0."
  • Amar, Nathanel. “‘We Come from the Underground’: Grounding Chinese Punk in Beijing and Wuhan.” Popular Music 41, no. 2 (2022): 170–93.
  • "Documentary: Under the dome"

10 / Tuesday 8 April 2025

保 - Hazards: sustainability and environmental challenges

China's eco initiatives and environmental challenges in urban development.

Main Reading : TBD

11 / Tuesday 15 April 2025

外 - Abroad: The export of the Chinese city

Exploration of Chinese urban influence globally, particularly through the Belt and Road Initiative.

Main Reading : TBD
Additional readings :

12 / Tuesday 22 April 2025

Students presentations

Final presentations