Gated Communities in China

Class, Privilege and the Moral Politics of the Good Life

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Cultural Studies, Ethnic Studies, Anthropology
Cover of the book Gated Communities in China by Choon-Piew Pow, Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Choon-Piew Pow ISBN: 9781134020966
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: September 11, 2009
Imprint: Routledge Language: English
Author: Choon-Piew Pow
ISBN: 9781134020966
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: September 11, 2009
Imprint: Routledge
Language: English

Moving beyond conventional accounts of gated communities and housing segregation, this book interrogates the moral politics of urban place-making in China’s commodity housing enclaves. Drawing on fieldwork and survey conducted in Shanghai, Pow critically demonstrates how gated communities are bound up in the cultural reproduction of middle-class landscape that is entrenched in the politics of the good life – defined in terms of a highly segregated landscape secured and maintained through the territorialisation of privilege, lifestyle and private property.

The study challenges the concept of gated communities as simply ‘spatial containers’ of social classes and argues that Shanghai’s gated enclaves may be more fruitfully analyzed as critical sites of and for the production and consumption of an exclusive lifestyle where nascent middle-class sensibilities and identities are being (re)presented, cultivated and lived. In the final analysis, the book addresses an overarching normative concern by examining how social-spatial differentiation and exclusion in Shanghai’s gated communities potentially disrupt, challenge and unsettle the modern ideals of urban life. By adopting a geographical moral perspective, this book illuminates the moral complexities and ambiguities of place-making in Shanghai’s increasingly polarized urban landscape.

As the first book length academic study on gated communities in China, this book will appeal broadly to those with interests in Urban studies and urban social development in China.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Moving beyond conventional accounts of gated communities and housing segregation, this book interrogates the moral politics of urban place-making in China’s commodity housing enclaves. Drawing on fieldwork and survey conducted in Shanghai, Pow critically demonstrates how gated communities are bound up in the cultural reproduction of middle-class landscape that is entrenched in the politics of the good life – defined in terms of a highly segregated landscape secured and maintained through the territorialisation of privilege, lifestyle and private property.

The study challenges the concept of gated communities as simply ‘spatial containers’ of social classes and argues that Shanghai’s gated enclaves may be more fruitfully analyzed as critical sites of and for the production and consumption of an exclusive lifestyle where nascent middle-class sensibilities and identities are being (re)presented, cultivated and lived. In the final analysis, the book addresses an overarching normative concern by examining how social-spatial differentiation and exclusion in Shanghai’s gated communities potentially disrupt, challenge and unsettle the modern ideals of urban life. By adopting a geographical moral perspective, this book illuminates the moral complexities and ambiguities of place-making in Shanghai’s increasingly polarized urban landscape.

As the first book length academic study on gated communities in China, this book will appeal broadly to those with interests in Urban studies and urban social development in China.

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book The American Merchant Experience in Nineteenth Century Japan by Choon-Piew Pow
Cover of the book Global Organized Crime by Choon-Piew Pow
Cover of the book Scientific Photography and Applied Imaging by Choon-Piew Pow
Cover of the book Educational Leadership in Becoming by Choon-Piew Pow
Cover of the book Psychology and Gender Dysphoria by Choon-Piew Pow
Cover of the book Computer Misuse by Choon-Piew Pow
Cover of the book Pevsner: The BBC Years by Choon-Piew Pow
Cover of the book Visions of Sustainability by Choon-Piew Pow
Cover of the book Biographies and Autobiographies in Modern Italy: a Festschrift for John Woodhouse by Choon-Piew Pow
Cover of the book Religion and European Philosophy by Choon-Piew Pow
Cover of the book Musical Visitors to Britain by Choon-Piew Pow
Cover of the book Ordinary Consumption by Choon-Piew Pow
Cover of the book Routledge Revivals: Charles Edward Horn's Memoirs of His Father and Himself (2003) by Choon-Piew Pow
Cover of the book Developmental and Life-course Criminological Theories by Choon-Piew Pow
Cover of the book Mediating and Remediating Death by Choon-Piew Pow
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy