Spatial production in the process of rapid urbanisation and ageing: A case study of the new type of community in suburban Shanghai

Abstract

Sustainable communities have been a substantial issue for urban studies worldwide. Population ageing is a major challenge for community development considering China's rapid urbanisation, which calls for the re-evaluation of the newly emerging trend of urban communities in China. This study aims to systematically investigate China's increasing focus on the older adult community through the practice of construction and governance, with an emphasis on how these new-type communities create a balanced multi-subject co-governance under the transformation of land use. Considering the Xiuye community in Songjiang District, Shanghai, as a case study, we innovatively introduce a general matrix of community spatiality to progressively propose the spatial production mechanism of community governance, thereby combining critical theory with human practice on the nature of space. The findings indicate that the triple concept of absolute, relative and relational spaces plays a vital role in understanding gated communities under uncertainties such as the recent pandemic. The historical residual problem of the nature of community industrial land is a key factor in producing multiple social contradictions; moreover, the agents of power and capital often exhibit evasive and immoral behaviour in major community affairs, and party member volunteers and authorised suppliers have made important contributions to the fight for residents' rights at all levels. The implications of this study are of great value for rethinking community space in the context of ageing, and governments and enterprises must undertake the required actions along with residents to reshape the current unstable multi-subject co-governance relationship.