Shanghai Ladies and Lilong Housing: The Feminine Scene Permeating Urban Shanghai

Abstract

In the Shanghai of the early twentieth century, rapid population growth and the consequent high density meant that, in much of the city, everyday life was condensed into a small and compact box-shaped row house. These houses were arranged along lanes which were also communities, called lilong. Shanghai’s lilong seem haunted by images of Shanghai ladies. This paper aims to explore the social ecology of the lilong by studying its spatial aspects and asking to what extent they influence and are influenced by the radical and creative character of Shanghai ladies, whether “New Women” or “Modern Girls.” Shanghai ladies’ modern femininity, which was architecturally, socially and historically conditioned, seems to have given them a particular attitude with which to approach the physical world, and which in turn pervaded the atmosphere and identity of the city as a whole.