Abstract
While industrial manufacturing is giving way to the creative economy in the 21st century, Shanghai—similar to many major cities around the world—is keen to bolster a stronger economy and increase its competitiveness by encouraging the development of cultural and creative industries. Over the past decade, the Shanghai municipal government has made a concerted effort to exploit the heritage assets of the city’s industrial past to reform its economic structure. There has been a deliberate attempt to establish a stronger correlation between industrial heritage conservation and creative industry cluster development. The aim of this research is to investigate the process of converting former industrial sites into loci of creativity. In doing so, we can determine the main actors, how different stakeholder groups came into play and the evolution of the subtle interplay between the designation of heritage architecture and that of creative industry cluster. Drawing on qualitative research methods, this paper presents a detailed analysis of three case studies in Shanghai: M50 Creative Park, 1933 Shanghai and the Cool Docks. The results reveal the changing positions of three major stakeholder groups. Whereas the private sector and the general public have developed increasing interests in the embedded economic and cultural values of the former industrial structures, local government has consciously reduced its presence and influence in valorising industrial heritage. Thus, the growing public awareness of cultural heritage protection and the increasing interest in the economic contribution of cultural and creative industries are intrinsic to Shanghai’s reindustrialisation in the 21st century.
Highlights
Cities have been acknowledged for their productive role in nurturing culture and creativity and are considered breeding grounds for imaginative ideas, innovative designs and revolutionary vanguards
There have been deliberate efforts to establish a stronger correlation between industrial heritage conservation and creative industry cluster designation
Obsolete manufacturing plants and sites were successively reinvented and turned into a breeding ground for creative industry and innovative enterprise. This close relationship is abundantly evident in the existing body of literature on the Shanghai municipal government’s initiative to develop ‘Creative Industry Clusters’ (CICs) and its entrepreneurial endeavours and attempts behind this initiative
Summary
Cities have been acknowledged for their productive role in nurturing culture and creativity and are considered breeding grounds for imaginative ideas, innovative designs and revolutionary vanguards. While the knowledgebased economy came to prominence at the turn of the 21st century, a new form of urbanism and local governance has emerged This new school of thought has increasingly seen cultural and creative industries as preconditions for enhancing the social liveability and economic competitiveness of cities (Wu 2000; Florida 2005; Landry 2008; Kong and O’Connor 2009; He 2014). Obsolete manufacturing plants and sites were successively reinvented and turned into a breeding ground for creative industry and innovative enterprise This close relationship is abundantly evident in the existing body of literature on the Shanghai municipal government’s initiative to develop ‘Creative Industry Clusters’ (CICs) and its entrepreneurial endeavours and attempts behind this initiative. Extensive research has been carried out on the application and effectiveness of CICs as a new planning instrument to boost the knowledge-based economy of the city
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