A Temporary Balance Between System and Lifeworld ——Social Space Research on the Resistance to the Urban Renewal Movement in Shanghai

The illegal shops on the ground floor of Gong-Ren-Xin-Cun which is the socialist utopian collective houses built for workers in the early years after the foundation of People’s Republic of China had shaped the long-term vitality of urban space in Shanghai. From 2017, Shanghai government has conducted a new urban renewal movement focused on the control of these illegal shops transformed from residential space. However, two years later, these once sealed-up shops reopened in an informal way, creating a new way of pubic communication. Through the windowsill shops, the underclass have taken a resistance to the autocratic system and achieved a temporary balance in the public-private relations. Based on the spatial analysis of typical streets and social investigation on relevant public sectors and groups, the paper attempts to discuss the deep reason behind the temporary success of this resistance from both the aspects of urban spatial structure and social relations. In addition to witnessing the vulnerability of the underclass and the irrationality of urban space structure, this paper is to argue that government should adopt more guiding solutions instead of cover up the appearance of the problems when facing social contradictions. Moreover, a better communication about the lifeworld advocated by Habermas needs to be established and architects as well as urban planners should be more involved in this communication to propose the possibility of spatial solutions on social conflicts.

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ISBN
978-1-944214-31-9