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Migrant Street Vendors in Urban China and the Social Production of Public Space
Author(s) -
Flock Ryanne,
Breitung Werner
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
population, space and place
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.398
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1544-8452
pISSN - 1544-8444
DOI - 10.1002/psp.1892
Subject(s) - public space , openness to experience , china , space (punctuation) , public security , corporate governance , production (economics) , social control , public culture , ethnic group , business , political science , public administration , politics , engineering , economics , law , architectural engineering , psychology , social psychology , linguistics , philosophy , finance , macroeconomics
This article focuses on the dynamics between migrant street vendors and public security forces and the complex social production of urban public space in Guangzhou. As an answer to daily contestation of public order, security agencies reluctantly open flexible windows of business opportunities to hawkers. Zones and periods of control, ‘soft’ approaches, and categories of ethnic belonging influence everyday governance and accessibility of public space. This results in a transient public space, fluid and continuously changing, which offers a new perspective on openness and functioning of public space in urban China. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.