Chinese Economic Transition and the Evolution of Liuhua Clothing Wholesale District in Guangzhou, China

Abstract

Communist country China’s post-1978 radical economic transition led to extraordinary morphological and functional changes in urban space. Dramatic changes resulting from the economic transition from centralized administrative allocation to the commercialization of land, suddenly endow space with distinct capital values; accordingly, spaces are linked to different functions. The Liuhua Clothing Wholesale District in Guangzhou offers the researcher an opportunity for the re-examination of morphological changes in accordance with these dramatic urban renewal processes under economic transition. It is the Liuhua District’s position on the south of the large transportation hub Guangzhou Railway Station that started the rapid growth of a brand-new clothing wholesale district. The deficiency of urban planning (Yeh 2004) created the local conditions for the development of an re-articulated, efficiently integrated, organic commercial district. This research aims to unravel the impact of economic and functional changes related to Liuhua District’s urban renewal processes with Actor-network-theory. For research design, grounded theory makes it possible to build up arguments on research data. Research data are obtained through methods including archive research, semi-structured interview and mapping. Archives including policies and historical maps enable the investigation of the Liuhua District’s evolving processes and morphological changes. Semi-structured interview is adopted to collect information about experience and memories on economic and functional changes; the interviews were conducted with 40 people of distinct professions in Liuhua District. Mapping is adopted for recording and representing spatial changes. For data analysis, graphic and nongraphic materials are coded to draw themes. This research will contribute to a critical understanding on how economic and functional changes impact urban renewal processes in Chinese context.