Creative Edge: The Exploration of Regeneration around the Chinese Campuses
Studentification is a global phenomenon that has gained prominence in urban planning and geological discussions, primarily driven by the growth of higher education that began in the early 1990s. Duoluojie is a Chinese term for distinct spaces emerging from studentification around Chinese university campuses that cater to the needs of university students.
Urban Duoluojie have also gained significant popularity among young people seeking affordable creative products, services, leisure, or even budget-friendly start-up businesses. This unique student lifestyle and culture has evolved into a profitable possibility for businesses, serving as a dependable niche market for rental income and the supplementary amenities demanded by students. However, the informality and shabbiness of Duoluojie are criticised by many local authorities and further labelled as a ‘grotty student slum’.
While most Duoluojies have been swallowed up by urban change and university expansion, only a few have been preserved and folded into urban regeneration projects led by university authorities and civil organizations. There are successful cases where Duoluojie were kept and even drove the growth of the creative economy around the university campuses, such as in Shapowei Creative District around Xiamen University.
The agglomeration of student-led creative economies, cultural organisations and venues, and leisure facilities in Shapowei are widely recognized as a creative milieu to develop a contemporary cultural vibrancy attracting a new wave of creative tourists. These genuine and dynamic cultural segments with distinctive lifestyles possess a unique role in contemporary urban branding.
This research will employ the spatial ethnography to explore how does Duoluojie could be managed and contribute to local creative development and city branding in the future studentification.
Xiaoyi is currently supervised by the following PhD supervisors:
- Dr Jieling Xiao
- Dr Hocine Bougdah
