Eine Plattform für die Wissenschaft: Bauingenieurwesen, Architektur und Urbanistik
Eine Plattform für die Wissenschaft: Bauingenieurwesen, Architektur und Urbanistik
Aestheticisation, rent-seeking, and rural gentrification amidst China's rapid urbanisation: The case of Xiaozhou village, Guangzhou
Abstract Amidst China's immense and rapid urbanisation, gentrification has spread from urban centres to peri-urban and rural areas. Employing an analytical perspective built from the literatures on counter-urbanisation, rural immigration and rural gentrification, this study examines the two-stage gentrification processes in Xiaozhou village, Guangzhou, China. Situating rural gentrification in Xiaozhou against broader backdrops – such as urbanisation in Guangzhou and the preservation regulations imposed by the local state – this article unveils the ways in which interplays between the aestheticisation of rural living and indigenous villagers' rent-seeking behaviour fostered rural immigration and gentrification. In Xiaozhou, grassroots artists' aestheticisation and colonisation of the village ignited an initial stage of gentrification. The subsequent commodification of rural land and housing, induced by increasing concentration of art students and middle class “elite artists”, led to deepened gentrification, studentification and eventually displacement of pioneer gentrifiers. In this process, local villagers' rent-seeking behaviour went hand in hand with aestheticisation and commodification of rural space. This finding questions the representations of victimised local rural residents in much of Western literature on rural gentrification. The special role played by the government policy and institutional arrangement in the stories of Xiaozhou also has the potential to add a new dimension to rural gentrification explanations. In sum, this paper shows that explanations of the perplexing dynamics of rural immigration and gentrification can benefit from more flexible and fluid conceptualisations of “gentrifiers” and “gentrification” as a whole.
Highlights This paper addresses rural gentrification in China. Grassroots artists triggered rural gentrification in Xiaozhou Village. Anti-urbanist sentiment and cheap housing are central to the first stage of rural gentrification. Studentification plays an essential role in the second stage of rural gentrification. Local villagers are active rent-seekers, not victims in this process of gentrification.
Aestheticisation, rent-seeking, and rural gentrification amidst China's rapid urbanisation: The case of Xiaozhou village, Guangzhou
Abstract Amidst China's immense and rapid urbanisation, gentrification has spread from urban centres to peri-urban and rural areas. Employing an analytical perspective built from the literatures on counter-urbanisation, rural immigration and rural gentrification, this study examines the two-stage gentrification processes in Xiaozhou village, Guangzhou, China. Situating rural gentrification in Xiaozhou against broader backdrops – such as urbanisation in Guangzhou and the preservation regulations imposed by the local state – this article unveils the ways in which interplays between the aestheticisation of rural living and indigenous villagers' rent-seeking behaviour fostered rural immigration and gentrification. In Xiaozhou, grassroots artists' aestheticisation and colonisation of the village ignited an initial stage of gentrification. The subsequent commodification of rural land and housing, induced by increasing concentration of art students and middle class “elite artists”, led to deepened gentrification, studentification and eventually displacement of pioneer gentrifiers. In this process, local villagers' rent-seeking behaviour went hand in hand with aestheticisation and commodification of rural space. This finding questions the representations of victimised local rural residents in much of Western literature on rural gentrification. The special role played by the government policy and institutional arrangement in the stories of Xiaozhou also has the potential to add a new dimension to rural gentrification explanations. In sum, this paper shows that explanations of the perplexing dynamics of rural immigration and gentrification can benefit from more flexible and fluid conceptualisations of “gentrifiers” and “gentrification” as a whole.
Highlights This paper addresses rural gentrification in China. Grassroots artists triggered rural gentrification in Xiaozhou Village. Anti-urbanist sentiment and cheap housing are central to the first stage of rural gentrification. Studentification plays an essential role in the second stage of rural gentrification. Local villagers are active rent-seekers, not victims in this process of gentrification.
Aestheticisation, rent-seeking, and rural gentrification amidst China's rapid urbanisation: The case of Xiaozhou village, Guangzhou
Qian, Junxi (Autor:in) / He, Shenjing (Autor:in) / Liu, Lin (Autor:in)
Journal of Rural Studies ; 32 ; 331-345
01.01.2013
15 pages
Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch