The City in China
New Perspectives on Contemporary Urbanism
Edited by Ray Forrest, Julie Ren and Bart Wissink
Published
Jul 15, 2020Page count
272 pagesISBN
978-1529205527Dimensions
234 x 156 mmImprint
Bristol University PressPublished
Jul 17, 2019Page count
272 pagesISBN
978-1529205473Dimensions
234 x 156 mmImprint
Bristol University PressPublished
Jul 17, 2019Page count
272 pagesISBN
978-1529205497Imprint
Bristol University Press
The City in China
In 1915 Robert Park penned his seminal paper “The City: Suggestions for the investigation of human behaviour in the city environment”. This essay provided an agenda for the Chicago School of Urban Sociology, which formed the basis of urban research for decades.
Given that China’s urban centres now occupy the spotlight that once belonged to American cities, Park’s essay is a platform and point of departure for this volume, which gathers together reflections from a broad range of urban China specialists to consider Park’s (ir)relevance today – for cities in China, for questions about the social life of the city and for urban research more generally.
Essential for a broad range of urban studies scholars, this book is an invaluable teaching resource and a useful tool for policy-makers and planners.
“Reflects upon the amazing urbanization processes experienced in the ‘new’ new world of China and the limits of applying Western theory to Chinese experiences. A very timely volume of studies on Chinese urban development grounded in a broad literature and brought together by highly qualified scholars.” Sako Musterd, University of Amsterdam
Ray Forrest (1951-2020) was Research Professor in Cities and Social Change and Director of the Centre for Social Policy and Social Change at
Lingnan University, Hong Kong . He was also Emeritus Professor of Urban Studies at the University of Bristol.
Julie Ren is Research Faculty, Department of Geography, Humboldt University of Berlin.
Bart Wissink is Associate Professor in Urban Studies and Urban Policy at the Department of Public Policy at City University of Hong Kong.
The City in China: New perspectives on contemporary urbanism~ Ray FORREST, Julie REN & Bart WISSINK;
Robert Park in China: From the Chicago School to Urban China Studies~Xuefei REN (Centre for Chinese Studies, Michigan State University);
“Bewitched by the History Behind the Walls”: Robert Park and the Arc of Urban Sociology from Chicago to China~Bettina GRANSOW (East Asian Studies, Freie Universitaet Berlin);
Moral Order in the Post-Socialist Chinese City: Generating a Dialogue with Robert E. Park’s “The City”~Fulong WU and Zheng WANG (Bartlett School, University College, London);
Learning from Chicago (and LA)? The Contemporary Relevance of Western Urban Theory for China“Bewitched by the history behind the walls”: Robert Park and the arc of urban sociology from Chicago to Shenzhen~Bart WISSINK (Department of Public Policy, City University of Hong Kong);
From Chicago to Shenzhen, via Birmingham: Zones of Transition and Dreams of Homeownership~Ray FORREST (Department of Public Policy, City University of Hong Kong);
Urbanization and Economic Development: Comparing the Trajectories of China and the United States~Jan NIJMAN (Urban Studies Institute, Georgia State University, USA);
The Handshake 302 Village Hack Residency: Chicago, Shenzhen, and the Experience of Assimilation~Mary Ann O’DONNELL (Independent scholar/anthropologist/poet, Shenzhen);
Beijing Ring Roads and the Poetics of Excess and Ordinariness~Jeroen DE KLOET (Centre for Globalisation Studies, University of Amsterdam);
Pathways to Urban Residency and Subjective Well-Being in Beijing~Juan CHEN and Shenghua XIE (Applied Social Studies, Hong Kong Polytechnic University);
A Study of Socio-spatial Segregation of Rural Migrants in Shenzhen: A Case of Foxconn~Zhigang LI, Shunxian OU and Rong WU (School of
Urban Design, Wuhan University, China);
The Anxious Middle Class of Urban China: Its Emergence and Formation~Tai-Lok LUI & Shou LIU (Asian and Policy Studies, Education University of Hong Kong);
Conclusion: Everyday Cities, Exceptional Cases~Julie REN (Department of Geography, London School of Economics).
