Lived Space of Urban Development: The Everyday Politics of Spatial Production in Nanjing, China

This article is about experiences of insecurity and the pursuit of resources in the midst of impending housing demolition in the city of Nanjing, China. How do everyday practices reproduce or contest spatial production of the neighborhood? How do residents articulate belonging in urban space? How does spatial production interact with social and cultural life in the neighborhood? Through an ethnographic study of the discourses and practices in an old city neighborhood in China, I find that residents construct their urban neighborhood community through social and cultural means by (1) building and maintaining relationships and (2) negotiating their right to the city. I use state propaganda, ethnographic field notes, and interview data to show how urban inhabitants create their city neighborhood. How residents create space in their neighborhood by building relationships and contesting the right to its resources illustrate their making sense of social belonging and conflicted experiences with urban renewal projects