Commercial gentrification-based on the adaptive reuse of historic dwellings for upscale shopping, dining and culture-is emerging as a new model of neighbourhood regeneration in China. Through an analysis of Shanghai's urban restructuring and a case study of Taikang Road Creative Cluster, this article demonstrates that entrepreneurial local government is a key facilitator. Conscious of the synergistic value of restored urban heritage with conspicuous consumption, tourism and even the creative industries, local officials have utilised their urban planning authority to open up urban heritage to a host of gentrifiers including businesses, artists and creative firms. In terms of social outcomes, some local residents have capitalised on inflated property values and gained the opportunity to move out of poverty. Nevertheless, socially exclusive outcomes have also been evident, as commercialisation eroded the living environment of rural migrants and other poor residents.
Adopting a dynamic conception of the 'entrepreneurial city', this paper analyses the evolving policies and practice of housing renewal in Shanghai between 1990 and2010. It demonstrates that compared to the 1990s, a more sophisticated and 'socially conscious' renewal framework has evolved over the last decade, incorporating heightened attention to heritage conservation, rehabilitation, to affordable housing provision and to ameliorating the social costs of displacement. Arguably, the role of government in housing renewal has become more sophisticated. Alongside its continued role as market facilitator and placepromoter, local government has developed a more extensive role in market regulation and as a mediator of competing social interests in urban renewal. On the one hand, the quest to foster an international city necessitates attention a more comprehensive set of urban agendas. On the other hand, these changes also reflect the emergence of a national agenda calling for more socio-economically 'balanced development', as rising inequality and citizen discontent demanded more nuanced urban policies.
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