{"id":10104,"date":"2022-12-08T10:52:31","date_gmt":"2022-12-08T02:52:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ukm.my\/kita\/?post_type=tribe_events&p=10104"},"modified":"2022-12-08T10:52:31","modified_gmt":"2022-12-08T02:52:31","slug":"swk2022-08","status":"publish","type":"tribe_events","link":"https:\/\/www.ukm.my\/kita\/event\/swk2022-08\/","title":{"rendered":"KITA Discourse Series 8\/2022: Creating the Spectacular City in Everyday Life: A Governance Analysis of Urban Public Space in China"},"content":{"rendered":"

CREATING THE SPECTACULAR CITY IN EVERYDAY LIFE: A GOVERNANCE ANALYSIS OF URBAN PUBLIC SPACE IN CHINA<\/strong><\/p>\n

By<\/strong><\/p>\n

DR. RYANNE FLOCK<\/strong><\/p>\n

University of Wuerzburg, Germany<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chinese cities are making a name for themselves through \u201caccumulation by spectacle\u201c (Guthman, 2008). Mostly analysing sport events and Expos in China\u2019s municipalities, studies elucidate the fast change of the urban fabric and the interconnection of commercial profits with pro-state propaganda. These mega-events appear as a once-in-lifetime chance for a city, orchestrated during a specific time and in purpose-built venues. This paper, however, argues that during 40 years of reforming and opening up efforts of spectacularization expand to everyday life. I take the marginalisation of the urban poor, i.e. of street vendors and beggars, in Guangzhou as a starting point to understand governmental ideals, strategies and patterns of controlling public space. The data is mainly based on fieldwork, government documents, yearbooks, and newspapers. Engaging in the discussion on the \u201csociety of the spectacle\u201d (Debord), the study elucidates governance strategies shaping public space for the external gaze. Urban management concentrates on areas serving tourism and commerce, memorial politics, and government relations. It follows the pulse of annual events and seasonal holidays, recurring political dates, exceptional mega-events, and regular urban development campaigns. These zones and periods of increased control intertwine and culminate in an \u201cideal\u201d public space excluding poverty and other elements contesting the city\u2019s success images.<\/p>\n

TENTATIVE PROGRAMME<\/h3>\n

Date: 16 December 2022 (Friday)
\nTime: 10 a.m. \u2013 12 p.m. (GMT +8)
\nVenue: KITA Meeting Room
\nBroadcasting Platforms: Zoom & KITA Facebook page (links below)<\/p>\n

10.00 a.m.: Introduction by Moderator Dr. Rachel Chan Suet Kay, KITA Research Fellow
\n10.05 a.m.: Welcoming remarks by Distinguished Prof. Datuk Dr. Shamsul Amri Baharuddin, KITA Founding Director
\n10.10 a.m.: Seminar by Dr. Ryanne Flock
\n11.10 a.m.: Q & A session<\/p>\n

PRESENTER’S PROFILE<\/h3>\n

Ryanne Flock is a postdoc research associate in the research project “Social Worlds: China’s Cities as Spaces of Worldmaking” (funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research) at the Institute of Sinology, W\u00fcrzburg University, Germany. Her research focuses on urbanization in the context of private and public spaces in China and sinophone Malaysia. She is the author of Shikumen Linong \u2013 Dwelling and Urban Change in Modern Shanghai (Lit, 2015), Public Space in Urban China: The Social Production in the Context of Urban Marginalization Processes (Franz Steiner, forthcoming), and coeditor of Family \u2013 Life \u2013 Pandemic: Words and Worlds of Chinese Rural Migrants (B\u00f6ll Foundation, forthcoming). Her research interest in Malaysia concentrates on The Urbanization of Chinese New Villages in the KL Metropolitan Region: Changes of Society, Culture and Everyday Space (working title).<\/p>\n

E-mail:<\/strong> ryanne.flock@uni-wuerzburg.de<\/p>\n

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