The capital complex: Beijing's new creative clusters

Keane, Michael A. (2008) The capital complex: Beijing's new creative clusters. In: Kong, Lily and O'Connor, Justin (Eds.) Creative Economies, Creative Cities: Asia-European Perspectives. Springer, New York. (In Press)

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Abstract

This essay begins with a brief discussion of how the idea of creative industries has provided the impetus for a new phase of cultural infrastructure construction in Beijing. I then contextualise these developments with an abridged history of the city from the time it became the imperial capital in 1420. A walled city of four separate enclosures during Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, by the 1950s Beijing had transformed into a sprawling city of industrial districts. The economic reform period which began in 1979 saw a transition from Maoist revolutionary class struggle to a pragmatic model of economic reconstruction and modernisation under Deng Xiaoping. An ensuing boom in development led to a surge in urban migration, putting further pressure on infrastructure. During the mid-1980s several of China's large cities, notably Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Tianjin and Beijing began to compete with each other, attempting to lure international investment. Beijing assumed a capital complex; not only was it the centre of political power, it saw itself as the cultural centre of the new China.

ID Code:	13015
Item Type:	Book Chapter
Additional Information:	For more information about this book please refer to the publisher's website (see link) or contact the author.
Additional URLs:	http://www.springer.com/
Keywords:	Beijing, creative clusters, innovation
Subjects:	Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification > STUDIES IN HUMAN SOCIETY (160000) > SOCIOLOGY (160800) > Social Change (160805)
Divisions:	QUT Faculties and Divisions > Creative Industries Faculty Research Centres > ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation
Copyright Owner:	Copyright 2008 Springer
Deposited On:	14 Mar 2008
Last Modified:	02 Jan 2010 01:54

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