The Last Urban Frontier : Commodification of Public Space and the Right to the City in Insurgent Hong Kong

Chan, Elton

The Last Urban Frontier : Commodification of Public Space and the Right to the City in Insurgent Hong Kong

Mark

Chan, Elton ^LU

(2023) In Lund Dissertations in Sociology

Abstract: This thesis explores the production and transformation of public spaces in Hong Kong, a city that is steeped in neoliberal ideals and has seen substantial deterioration in terms of democratic rights and freedoms in recent years. As a result of the expansion of neoliberal capitalism, commodification of urban space has not only exacerbated, but also become more far-reaching and indiscriminate. While existing lines of enquiry such as privatisation and commercialisation remain highly important, it could be argued that they may no longer suffice to encapsulate the exploitative motives and practices of public space due to the growing importance of public space in urban development, as well as the increasingly complex and dynamic models of... (More); This thesis explores the production and transformation of public spaces in Hong Kong, a city that is steeped in neoliberal ideals and has seen substantial deterioration in terms of democratic rights and freedoms in recent years. As a result of the expansion of neoliberal capitalism, commodification of urban space has not only exacerbated, but also become more far-reaching and indiscriminate. While existing lines of enquiry such as privatisation and commercialisation remain highly important, it could be argued that they may no longer suffice to encapsulate the exploitative motives and practices of public space due to the growing importance of public space in urban development, as well as the increasingly complex and dynamic models of funding, ownership, and management. Rather than fixating on certain characteristics like public ownership and commercial use of public spaces, the thesis argues that a broadened conceptualisation of public space commodification will be key to not only unpacking its multi-scalar socio-spatial impacts, but also revealing its connection to other urban processes. By rethinking commodification processes in relation to public space, this thesis sets out to establish the linkages between capitalist productive forces and the development and production of public space.

Moreover, drawing upon recent protest movements in Hong Kong and the ways in which protesters appropriated and transformed different urban spaces into spaces of public discourse, the thesis argues that everyday contests over public space use and development are imperative to the city’s future political struggles. It is for this reason that the thesis started by examining the commodification of everyday public spaces in Hong Kong, and while inspirations for an alternative public space can be drawn from the sites of political struggles and contestations, it is ultimately in the spaces of everyday life where the right to the city can be formulated and enacted. The empirical cases are centred on three different public spaces in Hong Kong, as well as the protest sites of both the Umbrella Movement and the Anti-ELAB protest movement. By adopting a combination of both on-site and digital ethnographic approaches, this study examines the social production of different public spaces in Hong Kong. The main sources of data for this study include participant observations, interviews, documents, live stream footages, and online forums. The cases are analysed and presented across the four papers included in this thesis.
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Abstract (Swedish): Denna avhandling undersöker skapandet och omvandlingen av offentliga platser i Hongkong, en stad som är genomsyrad av nyliberala ideal och som under senare år har kännetecknats av betydande försämringar när det gäller demokratiska rättigheter och friheter. Som ett resultat av den nyliberala kapitalismens expansion har kommodifieringen av det urbana rummet inte bara förvärrats utan också blivit mer omfattande och urskillningslös. Även om befintliga undersökningar som betonat privatisering och kommersialisering fortfarande är mycket viktiga, kan man hävda att de inte längre räcker till för att fånga de exploaterande motiven och praktikerna för det offentliga rummet. Anledningarna finns bland annat i det offentliga rummets ökande betydelse... (More); Denna avhandling undersöker skapandet och omvandlingen av offentliga platser i Hongkong, en stad som är genomsyrad av nyliberala ideal och som under senare år har kännetecknats av betydande försämringar när det gäller demokratiska rättigheter och friheter. Som ett resultat av den nyliberala kapitalismens expansion har kommodifieringen av det urbana rummet inte bara förvärrats utan också blivit mer omfattande och urskillningslös. Även om befintliga undersökningar som betonat privatisering och kommersialisering fortfarande är mycket viktiga, kan man hävda att de inte längre räcker till för att fånga de exploaterande motiven och praktikerna för det offentliga rummet. Anledningarna finns bland annat i det offentliga rummets ökande betydelse för stadsutvecklingen liksom i de alltmer komplexa och dynamiska modellerna för finansiering, ägande och förvaltning. I stället för att fokusera på offentligt ägande och kommersiell användning av offentliga platser, argumenterar avhandlingen för att en bredare konceptualisering av kommodifieringen av offentliga platser är avgörande för blottläggandet av såväl mångskaliga socio-spatiala betydelser som kopplingen till andra urbana processer. Genom att ompröva kommodifieringsprocesser i förhållande till det offentliga rummet vill denna avhandling visa på kopplingarna mellan kapitalistiska produktivkrafter och utvecklingen och produktionen av det offentliga rummet.

Med utgångspunkt i senare års proteströrelser i Hongkong och de sätt på vilka demonstranterna tillägnade sig och omvandlade olika urbana rum till platser för offentliga diskurser, hävdar avhandlingen vidare att vardagliga strider om användningen och utvecklingen av det offentliga rummet är av avgörande betydelse för stadens framtida politiska strider. Det är av denna anledning som avhandlingen började med att undersöka kommodifieringen av vardagslivets offentliga rum i Hongkong, och även om inspiration till ett alternativt offentligt rum kan hämtas från platser där politiska kontroverser och strider utspelar sig, är det i sista hand på de platser där vardaglivet äger rum som rätten till staden kan formuleras och förverkligas. Avhandlingens empiriska fall är centrerade kring tre olika offentliga platser i Hongkong samt till de platser där protester från The Umbrella Movement respektive Anti-ELAB-rörelsen ägde rum. Genom att använda en kombination av etnografiska metoder på plats och digitala etnografiska metoder undersöker studien den sociala produktionen av olika offentliga rum i Hongkong. De viktigaste datakällorna för studien är deltagande observationer, intervjuer, dokument, bilder från live stream och forum på nätet. Fallstudierna beskrivs och analyseras i de fyra artiklar som ingår i avhandlingen.
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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication: https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/aad8ccd0-1f93-43b4-90b2-b6dc844b0b68

author

Chan, Elton ^LU

supervisor

Bo Isenberg ^LU
Erik Hannerz ^LU

opponent

Professor Martínez, Miguel A., University of Uppsala

organization

publishing date

2023

type

Thesis

publication status

published

subject

Sociology (excluding Social Work, Social Psychology and Social Anthropology)

keywords

public space, commodification, protest, right to the city, Hong Kong

in

Lund Dissertations in Sociology

issue

131

pages

139 pages

publisher

Lund University

defense location

Edens hörsal, Paradisgatan 5, 223 50 Lund

defense date

2023-05-05 10:15:00

ISSN

1102–4712

ISBN

978-91-8039-592-2

978-91-8039-593-9

language

English

LU publication?

yes

id

aad8ccd0-1f93-43b4-90b2-b6dc844b0b68

date added to LUP

2023-04-11 14:14:13

date last changed

2023-12-19 15:39:11

@phdthesis{aad8ccd0-1f93-43b4-90b2-b6dc844b0b68,
  abstract     = {{This thesis explores the production and transformation of public spaces in Hong Kong, a city that is steeped in neoliberal ideals and has seen substantial deterioration in terms of democratic rights and freedoms in recent years. As a result of the expansion of neoliberal capitalism, commodification of urban space has not only exacerbated, but also become more far-reaching and indiscriminate. While existing lines of enquiry such as privatisation and commercialisation remain highly important, it could be argued that they may no longer suffice to encapsulate the exploitative motives and practices of public space due to the growing importance of public space in urban development, as well as the increasingly complex and dynamic models of funding, ownership, and management. Rather than fixating on certain characteristics like public ownership and commercial use of public spaces, the thesis argues that a broadened conceptualisation of public space commodification will be key to not only unpacking its multi-scalar socio-spatial impacts, but also revealing its connection to other urban processes. By rethinking commodification processes in relation to public space, this thesis sets out to establish the linkages between capitalist productive forces and the development and production of public space. <br/><br/>Moreover, drawing upon recent protest movements in Hong Kong and the ways in which protesters appropriated and transformed different urban spaces into spaces of public discourse, the thesis argues that everyday contests over public space use and development are imperative to the city’s future political struggles. It is for this reason that the thesis started by examining the commodification of everyday public spaces in Hong Kong, and while inspirations for an alternative public space can be drawn from the sites of political struggles and contestations, it is ultimately in the spaces of everyday life where the right to the city can be formulated and enacted. The empirical cases are centred on three different public spaces in Hong Kong, as well as the protest sites of both the Umbrella Movement and the Anti-ELAB protest movement. By adopting a combination of both on-site and digital ethnographic approaches, this study examines the social production of different public spaces in Hong Kong. The main sources of data for this study include participant observations, interviews, documents, live stream footages, and online forums. The cases are analysed and presented across the four papers included in this thesis. <br/>}},
  author       = {{Chan, Elton}},
  isbn         = {{978-91-8039-592-2}},
  issn         = {{1102–4712}},
  keywords     = {{public space; commodification; protest; right to the city; Hong Kong}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{131}},
  publisher    = {{Lund University}},
  school       = {{Lund University}},
  series       = {{Lund Dissertations in Sociology}},
  title        = {{The Last Urban Frontier : Commodification of Public Space and the Right to the City in Insurgent Hong Kong}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/143671521/Elton_Chan_The_Last_Urban_Frontier_Kappa.pdf}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}

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The Last Urban Frontier : Commodification of Public Space and the Right to the City in Insurgent Hong Kong