Materialist pedagogy: The function of themed environments in post-socialist consumption in Macao

Abstract

Following Portugal’s handover of the colony of Macao to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1999, the city has undergone an intense period of transformation. The PRC liberalized the monopolistic local gambling industry, which comprises the bulk of Macao’s economy, allowing foreign gaming companies to enter the market. These companies are investing approximately $25 billion to construct a phantasmagoric themed cityscape of casinos, hotels and entertainment zones that is a marked departure from Macao’s extant colonial architecture. This article analyzes the production of this new transnational landscape in Macao and the pedagogical function of these themed environments in the consumption practices of post-socialist tourists from mainland China, who make up more than half of the 30 million tourists who visited the tiny city in 2008. A socio-semiotic methodology reveals the way themed environments provide a spatial syntax and semantics that indexes consumption, making Macao a didactic laboratory of consumerism.

Prosperity and environmental challenge in a gaming city: environmental awareness of citizens in the Macao Special Administrative Region, China

“…materialist values) to improve the standard of living of people with the quest for an improved environmental quality that entails the acceptance of postmaterialist values. One of the greatest challenges impeding the transition from the materialist to post-materialist values is the impact of the consumption practices of post-socialist tourists from Mainland China [18]. Overall, the study reveals that citizens hold mixed views on environmental protection.…”

“…Many people believe that the environmental quality of Macao will worsen in the future. Citizens are more aware of environmental problems nowadays; and their aspiration to improve the environmental quality is growing [18]. Yet, they retain strong materialist values, and the gap between the quest for better environmental quality and materialistic lifestyle is widening.…”

“…First, Macao has experienced remarkable economic growth during the post-handover era, especially with the opening up of the market to the gaming industry in 2002. The huge influx of mainland tourists with the introduction of the ITS by the Central government of China in 2003 brought about a new wave of consumerism known as 'post-socialist consumption' [18]. A growth outlook overshadows society since the handover.…”

“…This trend produces corresponding increases in the quantity of daily MSW generated [17,18]. Managing this rising quantity of waste is a problem for the MSAR government [17,19,20].…”

Macau’s role as a recreation/tourist center in the Pearl River Delta city-region

“…Further, Macau is far behind Las Vegas in developing the MICE business. To further distinguish Macau from Las Vegas, the nongaming entertainment market in Macau seems to be weakening (Balsas, 2013;Simpson, 2009). According to Li (2012), an international and usually popular entertainment, Cirque du Soleil, located at a showcase casino hotel in Macau, had to close for lack of business.…”