1st Edition

Suzhou in Transition

Edited By Beibei Tang, Paul Cheung Copyright 2021
256 Pages 56 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

256 Pages 56 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

256 Pages 56 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

Through the lens of the city of Suzhou, this edited volume presents views on the complex interaction between the central state, market agents, local governments and individuals who have shaped the development of Chinese cities and urban life. Featuring a range of disciplinary perspectives, contributors to this volume have all undertaken research in one municipality – Suzhou – to consider... Read more

1. Suzhou in Transition: An Introduction

Beibei Tang and Paul Cheung

Part 1. Historical and Cultural Transformation

2. Beautiful Su: A History of Transformations

Stephen L. Koss

3. Historic Landscape and Water Heritage of Suzhou Beyond the Tourist Gaze

Yi-Wen Wang and Christian Nolf

4. Bridal Fashion and Suzhou: The Development of the Tiger Hill Wedding Market

Sara Sterling

Part 2. Urban Development and Social Life

5. Suzhou’s Modernity within Space and Spatial Relations

Jiawen Han

6. Urban-Rural Relations in the Context of New Urbanization: The Case of Suzhou

Sheng Zhong and Shengxi Xin

7. Social Fabric in the Wujiang District of Suzhou

Paul Cheung

Part 3. Administration and Governance

8. Suzhou and the City-Region: The Administrative Divisions in Historical Perspective and Rural-Urban Transition

Hu De and Carolyn Cartier

9. Wujiang in Transition: Urban Development and Changing Grassroots Governance Mechanisms

Beibei Tang

Biography

Beibei Tang is a Senior Associate Professor in the Department of China Studies at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University. She has undertaken extensive ethnographic research across different localities in China, with particular focuses on local governance, social stratification and state–society relations in urban China. She has published her research in high-impact journals such as The China Quarterly, The China Journal and Journal of Contemporary China. She is the author of China’s Housing Middle Class (2018) and the winner of the 2015 Gordon White Prize.

Paul Cheung is a sociolinguist based at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University. His research is focused on the representation of internal migration in public discourses and cultural factors associated with the flow of population across borders both salient and hidden. He is a principal investigator for the project "Governance in Light of the 'New Citizenship' Campaign in China."