Features of Modernity, Development and ‘Orientalism’: Reading Johannesburg through its ‘Chinese’ Urban Spaces

Dittgen, Romain

doi:10.1080/03057070.2017.1332899

Cited by 15 publications

(14 citation statements)

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“…I see Rwanda Market as one type of Chinese space in Africa where local socioeconomic activities take shape in a traditional market space under the dynamic influence of Chinese migration. Yet the extent of Chinese identity in this case differs from many other cases in the existing literature, such as China Town malls in South African cities (Huynh 2018), Chinese communities in rural towns (Deumert and Mabandla 2015), and real estate projects where Chinese capital and Chinese visions of modernity accumulate into a new city (Dittgen 2017). In these cases, business networks are triggered by migrant communities and ethnic groups, and to some extent are distinct from the local ones.…”

mentioning

confidence: 78%

Rwanda Market in Addis Ababa: Between Chinese Migrants and a Local Food Network

Huang¹

2019

chinaperspectives

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The increasing number of Chinese migrants in Ethiopia has created a niche market for Chinese food consumption, turning Rwanda Market into the only urban food market specialising in Chinese products in the city of Addis Ababa. The specific character of this market is that even though it primarily serves the demands of foreign migrants, the food value chain and the business network is predominantly local. Positioned in a relatively conservative business environment in Ethiopia's food sector, the local business network in Rwanda Market actively adapts to the needs of the migrant community and expands its food value chain. Through daily interactions between the local business network and Chinese food consumers, convivial relations are evolving in and beyond the market. These interactions contribute to reshaping the socio-economic space of the market and the food landscape of the city. This study of Rwanda Market provides empirical material for the developing and diversifying research field of China-Africa encounters.

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mentioning

confidence: 78%

Rwanda Market in Addis Ababa: Between Chinese Migrants and a Local Food Network

Huang¹

2019

chinaperspectives

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“…Despite all these statistics defining what might make an 'ordinary' Londoner, the concept is relatively hard to define. Ordinariness in London is a complex phenomenon, but at the core is finding a place to call home (Carmona and Carmona, 2016). To address this, in this paper we take particular inspiration from Hall's (2007) London Voices London Lives.…”

Section: London's Housing Market: What Makes An 'Ordinary' Buyer and mentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a pluralistic understanding of Chinese homeowners: the case of ‘ordinary’ buyers

Brill¹,

Raco²

2020

Geoforum

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In this paper we address 'ordinary' Chinese buyers in London's residential real estate market. We argue that current academic and policy analysis, particularly of elites, has focused on the higher-end of the market and over-emphasised the detached nature of international buyers. In contrast, building on, but departing from, existing analyses of the multiple classes of Chinese investors evident in London (see Glucksberg, 2016), we reveal the tactics and motivations of buyers with budgets of less than £500,000. We show that they are motivated by good schools, easy commutes and use similar technologies to mediate and understand the market to local buyers. Such aims and approaches, we argue, show the ordinariness of many Chinese buyers. Underpinning their aims is an aspirational, class-defined desire based on making sacrifices so their children can have a 'normal British life'. This becomes an elective belonging, as they integrate into the norms of London's housing market. In demonstrating how the realities of ordinary buyers contrasts with existing narratives of Chinese investors, we highlight plurality of experiences, strategies and aims of Chinese people buying homes. We argue such an understanding forces us to rethink the form and character of Chinese investment practices in western cities by de-centring London's prime areas and purchasers when analysing property acquisition's internationalisation. In turn this evidences the false binary of local and international demand and shows the complexities hidden behind narratives of international capital. 'contributed to the growth of protectionist and xenophobic discourses

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“…Chinese assistance and cooperation on these projects mirrors the country's geopolitical and geoeconomic imperatives, as Angola and South Africa are among China's closest allies on the continent, while Egypt is a key member of the Belt and Road initiative. In this way, the string of new developments can be considered part of the increased growth of 'Chinese spaces' in African cities (Dittgen 2017).…”

Section: Project-based Development: Edge Cities In An African Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a development organisation, Zendai had little experience with this size of project; in Shanghai, they had been involved in significantly smaller schemes including 'Thumb Plaza' and 'The Himalayas Center' (Zendai 2013;Dittgen 2017). To address this relative lack of experience, Zendai kept the existing Heartland team and hired a number of international consultancies to draw up a comprehensive masterplan for the area (Brill 2018), as is typical of large scale developments aimed at international audiences (Watson 2014).…”

Section: Case Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Failed Fantasies in a South African Context: the Case of Modderfontein, Johannesburg

Brill

Reboredo

2018

Urban Forum

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The (proposed) development of private sector-led, large-scale urban projects on the periphery of many African cities has drawn increased attention to the geographical breadth and potential consequences of the phenomena in recent years. This work demonstrates the speculative nature of many of these projects and their 'world-class city' aspirations, but also how such plans will exacerbate existing problems, including spatial inequality and environmental degradation. This paper, drawing on 50 interviews and extensive fieldwork, examines one such project in northeast Johannesburg, the Modderfontein New City. The paper responds to existing research and their calls for more grounded studies, and argues that given their distinct logics and developmental mechanisms, large-scale masterplanned edge cities can only truly be understood within the context of their place-specific urban landscapes, and that contrary to the prevailing arguments on this type of project, they do not always exist outside of ordinary governance structures. Supporting the (speculative) conclusions in earlier research, we demonstrate how the plans and early building looked to worsen spatial inequality and environmental problems. However, in highlighting how Modderfontein's failure is partly the product of a strong local state unwilling to compromise on their own agenda in the face of elite-driven edge city developments, we argue such large scale projects in Johannesburg face hitherto under-researched disciplining processes that can disrupt or even derail projects.

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Features of Modernity, Development and ‘Orientalism’: Reading Johannesburg through its ‘Chinese’ Urban Spaces

Cited by 15 publications

References 0 publications

Rwanda Market in Addis Ababa: Between Chinese Migrants and a Local Food Network

Rwanda Market in Addis Ababa: Between Chinese Migrants and a Local Food Network

Towards a pluralistic understanding of Chinese homeowners: the case of ‘ordinary’ buyers

Failed Fantasies in a South African Context: the Case of Modderfontein, Johannesburg

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