The Right to Envision the City? The Emerging Vision Conflicts in Redeveloping Historic Nanjing, China

Abstract

This article presents a new trend in urban politics in China, that is, the intertwined conflicts of three competing visions—entrepreneurial redevelopment, historic conservation, and community conservation—in the redevelopment of historic areas. Through an in-depth case study of the struggles around the redevelopment of historic Nanjing, we outline three key points. First, historic conservation has emerged as a strong urban vision competing against entrepreneurial redevelopment in historic districts, since the early 2000s. Second, local residents have tactically employed the discourse of historic conservation to negotiate their own visions of community conservation, yet these have largely failed since the major concern of the elite vision of historic conservation is the preservation of material structures rather than communities living in them. Third, and in conclusion, this article calls for a more inclusive vision of historic community conservation and more attention to the “envisioning” right of ordinary residents in Chinese urban politics.