The Problem Space of Nature in Chongqing: A Conjunctural Analysis of Environmental Crisis Discourses and Local Housing Practices

Over the past decade, China’s centralized politics have explored new resources to tame the sustainability question and hinder the possibility for narratives of crisis to institutionalize foci of social and territorial malaise. The party-state rhetoric has focused its attention on inverse discourses of future environmental civilization whereas the current conjuncture shapes the local greenspace as a problem space. The analysis of environmental crisis discourses in Chongqing reveals the conundrum of redefining the commons in transitional times characterized by practices of redenomination of nature reserves and green objectifying high-end real estate advertisement. It points out how the crisis is turned into an opportunity for further uneven development through a process of emplacement on the basis of individualized forms of environmental protection. On the other hand, the digital makes space for alternative narratives of awareness which evoke a sense of social responsibility to understand the territorial changes and avoid a complete de-politicization of local communities on the governance of commons. The essay reveals how the state of tension within the eco-commodity production and circulation is linked to discourses of emotional proximity to the landscape

Rationalities of Green Urbanization in Chongqing: Local Environment at the Service of Eco-Capitalist Logics?

Contemporary Chinese urbanization is certainly a controversial and largely studied phenomenon, at least for what concerns the coastal areas. It is partly seen as a product of the semi-neoliberal politics introduced in the country, that have favoured the flow of economies and lifestyles modelled on capitalist patterns from the Global North. In the light of scholarships pointing out the relevance of local mechanisms of entrepreneurialism and new social manifestations for the promotion of capital production and circulation, this paper analyses the role of upscale real estate in terms of spatial-temporal fix within the analytical framework of China’s land beautification politics. In particular, it investigates the outcomes deriving from eco-capitalist logics in Chongqing area and their impact on the natural environment. By following political attitudes in Chongqing urban space that are imbued with the principle of integrated resource management, the aim is to unravel the problematics behind the implementation of such ideological constructs in the locale. The analysis of statistics, political statements, and controversial projects shows how the scopes and purposes of land use, construction, and administrative legitimacy are intertwined and channelled through the satisfaction of alleged consumerist needs. It argues that the projection and imaginary of green but artificial environments (“Beautiful China”) are planned to behave as a token, i.e. quasi-objects that enable the dismantling of the natural environment in the name of environmental protection and commodity-making practices

STRUCTURAL REASONS OF CURRENT UPGRADING: URBAN AND INDUSTRIAL IMAGES OF THE CHINESE CITY CHONGQING FROM 1949 UNTIL 1980

Belonging to a small group of privileged Chinese cities, Chongqing covers a big economic role for the development of the South-west, since the “Open up the West” policy was launched in 1997. In correspondence with the new economic role, the city has also gained a higher political position among the bigger Chinese cities, becoming at that time a new Municipality. The city itself knew thus a 'redefinition' in landscape borders and economic image, fact that should though be seen as a “Renaissance” attempt granted by the Central Government. In this article we would like to offer a new perspective of this city, whose importance in Chinese scenery is most of the time misunderstood by foreigners: a deeper insight into Chongqing history could therefore offer a chance to reflect on the controversial recent phenomena that have affected this territory. Our interest is directed to the analysis of urban and industrial changes on the background of the establishment of the People Republic of China in 1949, from the concept of Danwei to the re-allocation of the industrial apparatus, and concluding with a section dedicated to the performance of Communist 'propaganda rites' behind the urban grid

Spazi di apprendimento. Virtù mediate e pratiche di sviluppo di un quartiere periurbano di Chongqing

La megalopoli di Chongqing presenta l’area urbana più estesa all’interno della municipalità omonima. L’ampliamento del tessuto urbano ha subìto una accelerazione dai primi anni Duemila grazie a un processo di crescita economica favorita da meccanismi di monetizzazione della terra e legittimata dalla politica nazionale “Open Up the West”, con cui Chongqing fu insignita del titolo di “porta e incubatore economico dell’Ovest (Cinese)”. Contestualizzata nell’area liminale tra urbano e rurale nel momento di espansione della città, questa ricerca indaga in modo relazionale la presenza pubblica dei poster di propaganda per la campagna politica “sogno cinese”, il loro contenuto e la loro distribuzione sul territorio durante la fase di risanamento di un quartiere periurbano della città, e le dinamiche createsi con altri elementi visuali presenti nello stesso spazio. L’analisi discorsiva dello storytelling intende rilevare i processi di co-costruzione emotivo-materiale dello spazio. Attraverso la realtà poco indagata del periurbano in una zona periferica della Cina, questa ricerca mira a mettere in risalto la relazione tra narrazioni dello spazio urbano e governabilità del territorio focalizzandosi sul tentativo di politicizzazione degli spazi pubblici di prossimità attraverso la diffusione di pratiche informali di apprendimento che raccontano storie di virtù propriamente cinese

The Remapping of Time by Active Tool-Use

Multiple, action-based space representations are each based on the extent to which action is possible toward a specific sector of space, such as near/reachable and far/unreachable. Studies on tool-use revealed how the boundaries between these representations are dynamic. Space is not only multidimensional and dynamic, but it is also known for interacting with other dimensions of magnitude, such as time. However, whether time operates on similar action-driven multiple representations and whether it can be modulated by tool-use is yet unknown. To address these issues, healthy participants performed a time bisection task in two spatial positions (near and far space) before and after an active tool-use training, which consisted of performing goal-directed actions holding a tool with their right hand (Experiment 1). Before training, perceived stimuli duration was influenced by their spatial position defined by action. Hence, a dissociation emerged between near/reachable and far/unreachable space. Strikingly, this dissociation disappeared after the active tool-use training since temporal stimuli were now perceived as nearer. The remapping was not found when a passive tool-training was executed (Experiment 2) or when the active tool-training was performed with participants’ left hand (Experiment 3). Moreover, no time remapping was observed following an equivalent active hand-training but without a tool (Experiment 4). Taken together, our findings reveal that time processing is based on action-driven multiple representations. The dynamic nature of these representations is demonstrated by the remapping of time, which is action- and effector-dependent

China soft power flowing through online literature

Brief analysis and comment on Chinese soft power over Vietnamese reading audience with regards to the Chinese online literature productio

Cartography and visual correspondences: thought and reality of modernism in Europe and China

With the coming of the second industrial revolution in England, great changes took place also within the European society, in particular a new concept of urban planning, and an early form of soil gentrification came to light. The middle class had finally won a place in politics, while academics invited the governments to review the entire landscape of human relationships through the eye of Modernism. Europe then engaged in a civilizing mission, transplanting factories and thoughts worldwide. Considering the modernist movement from a transcultural perspective we thus aim to analyze the development and implementation of the theories into the practice, as to underline the differences and convergences among some places on a global level. We look in particular at Europe and China as a flourishing urban milieu, with the Chinese city of Chongqing as basis to study the turning points between ancient and modern society in China, and Paris in France as the place in which the ideas of urbanization, social regulation, and sanitation have come into being in their very first stage. We focus our discourse on the divergence between cartography and reality, putting emphasis on the concept of visual utopia. Through the analysis of Chongqing old maps it will be finally possible to appreciate the Chinese peculiar cartographic methods, and the subsequent assimilation of the European 'scientific' methods of cartographic survey in China

Una Cina più verde grazie al mercato delle emissioni di CO2

Lo scambio delle emissioni in Cina tra propaganda, economia circolare e lotta all’inquinamento.Emissions trading in China: propaganda, circular economy, and environmental pollution

Cina – Un mare burrascoso

A brief analysis and comment on the military expansion of China in the South China Sea in the early 2010