The influence of the Bi-City Biennales of Urbanism and Architecture on urban regeneration in Shenzhen

(1)

Laura van Dulm | 10344772

Supervisors | Marco Bontje & Ching-Wen Yang August | 2017

The influence of the Bi-City Biennales of Urbanism and

Architecture on urban regeneration in Shenzhen

(2)

2 Master thesis Urban and Regional Planning Course Catalogue Number

736410200Y MSc Urban and Regional Planning

Credits

24 EC MSc Urban and Regional Planning

Student

Name: Laura van Dulm Student number: 10344772

Email: Lauravandulm@hotmail.com

Supervisors

Dr. Marco Bontje and Ching-Wen Yang Second reader

Anna Nikolaeva

University of Amsterdam

Department of Human Geography, Planning & International Development Studies Roeterseilandcampus - building B/C/D (entrance B/C) Nieuwe Achtergracht 166

1018 WV Amsterdam Date

(3)

3

Acknowledgement

Ever since I heard about the opportunity of writing your thesis abroad I knew I wanted to do this. Especially when I found out you could do research in Shenzhen, China. Two years ago I studied for one semester in Hong Kong and took courses such as Planning in China and I became fascinated by the country and its incredible fast urban growth.

Being able to conduct my research in such a modern and major Chinese city has been a great experience and taught me so much more about the country. It is very exciting to stay in a city where so much, in the field of planning, is visibly happening.

I would not have been able to conduct my research without the help of a lot of people. First of all I want to thank my supervisors, Marco Bontje and Ching-Wen Yang, for guiding us from the very beginning. They provided constructive feedback, helped me when I faced constraints, provided information about Shenzhen and they organized a wonderful introduction week in Shenzhen and accommodation. It was very helpful to make a good start for my research.

I also want to thank my fellow students for their emotional support when I unfortunately had to leave earlier than planned. They did their best to help me to arrange interviews from the Netherlands. They also made my stay in China a lot more enjoyable and one to remember.

A key person to my research has been Liu Lei. He helped me to get in touch with most of my respondents and was always very helpful if I had any questions. It was also great that the Shenzhen Center for Design offered us a very pleasant place to study.

Finally I want to thank my family, boyfriend and friends who supported me to continue my thesis, which has been quite a difficult road for me. Thank you for sitting next to me, taking me to the library and reading my thesis. A special thanks to my mother who has been so strong throughout this period and always supporting me no matter what.

Finishing my thesis has been the biggest challenge I faced during my study at the University of Amsterdam. However, it has also been the most exciting project so far and taught me a lot about myself, conducting research and about China. So hereby I am pleased to present to you my thesis.

Laura van Dulm

(4)

4

Abstract

Shenzhen grew from a settlement of fisher villages with about 30,000 inhabitants to a ‘world factory’ and one of the most important cities in China with more than 15 million inhabitants. Meanwhile, factories are leaving Shenzhen because of the high costs of land and labor. The city is reinventing itself and focuses, among other things, on culture. From ‘made in China’ to ‘create in China’. Consequences of the cities growth are that Shenzhen is running out of land for urban expansion. Therefore they need to use urban regeneration to reshape the urban form. The future of Shenzhen’s development lies within the existing urban fabric. One of the cultural events that Shenzhen hosts is the Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism and Architecture. For every exhibition a factory is transformed. Some suggest that the UABB works as an ‘urban catalyst’: a vehicle for urban change. This led to the following research question: How did the Bi-City Biennales of

Urbanism and Architecture function as a ‘catalyst’ for urban regeneration in Shenzhen? This

study uses a qualitative case study approach and compares three different editions. In-depth interviews with different stakeholders and a review of blogs provided data. The findings of this study suggest that the largest catalyst role of the Biennale involves the transformations of the factories for the exhibition. These transformations are an example to show how urban regeneration can be done, and could lead to appreciation of cultural heritage. However, this is a very slow progress. Besides, a lot of new developments took place in the areas of OCT Loft and Shekou, where the exhibitions were held. In OCT Loft it are mostly factories that have been transformed and it still boasts a cultural atmosphere. In Shekou these new developments did not involve the regeneration of existing buildings. Finally, some effects that are related to urban regeneration are witnessed in all three editions. Hence, it can be argued that the Biennale indeed functions as a ‘catalyst’ for urban regeneration in Shenzhen.

(5)

5

1. Introduction

Over the last couple of decades there has been a rise of neoliberalisation worldwide in economic, political and social processes. One of the consequences is increasing global competition to attract investments among countries and especially cities. In this competition, cities started to act more like entrepreneurs than regulators. Cities want to profile themselves and two examples of how they try to achieve this are: hosting mega-events and culture-led urban regeneration. These means are often used to pursue fast urban regeneration (Silvestre, 2008). This trend can not only be witnessed in the Western world but also in China, indicating that urban development, planning practices and governance are becoming more market-oriented (Tasan-Kok, 2012; Eizenberg & Cohen, 2015; Harvey, 1989; Qu & Spaans 2009; Wu, 2008).

China started opening up its economy in 1979, led by Deng Xiaoping. Shenzhen, a large metropolis located next to the border with Hong Kong, was assigned as the first ‘Special Economic Zone’ after the economic reform. Capitalism was tested in parts of Shenzhen to see how it would work. The economic reform has been very successful and was eventually implemented in other parts of China as well; wealth in China increased and the country became an important global player (Wang & Slack, 2000). Shenzhen grew from a settlement of fisher villages with about 30,000 inhabitants to a ‘world factory’ and one of the most important cities in China with an unofficial number of inhabitants varying between 15 and 20 million (INTI, 2016). Consequences of this huge growth are that Shenzhen is running out of land for urban expansion. Therefore they need to use urban regeneration to reshape the urban form at neighborhood level and the spatial structures at city-regional level. The future of Shenzhen’s development lies within the existing urban fabric. Besides, there are issues involved with the huge influx of migrants to the city. Namely, providing a place to live and to integrate the newcomers in a social and spatial way (Lei, 2016).

Since the 2000s, set against the backdrop of increasing neoliberal China, the country hosted a range of events like the Olympic Games in Beijing 2008 or the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai. There is a lot of literature available about these large events and the impact they have on the cities where the events were held (Deng Y. , 2013; Mills & Rosentraub, 2013; Eizenberg & Cohen, 2015; Qu & Spaans, 2009; Silvestre, 2008; Close, 2010; Duan, Yi, & Kunzmann, 2016; Shin, 2012; Carlsen & Millan, 2002). An example of what can be seen as a creative flagship event organized in Shenzhen and Hong Kong every two years is the ‘Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism and Architecture’, hereafter referred to as UABB. Shenzhen going through a ‘transitional period of industrial upgrading’ (Lei, 2016, p. 131). A lot of the manufacturing industries are gradually moving to inland China or other countries. Meanwhile, the knowledge-based service industry is increasing. This means that a lot of factories become vacant (Lei, 2016). The exhibition of UABB takes place in these abandoned factories that are transformed for this event. The exhibition lasts about three months. The initiator of the UABB was the Urban Planning Department of Shenzhen Municipal Government in 2005. The UABB states on its

(7)

7

website that it ‘’plays a decisive role in constructing a win-win situation for the twin cities, in industrial upgrade of the Pearl River Delta Region, in development of satellite cities and inter-cooperation between regions, and in building sustainable cities for the future world (Szhkbiennale, 2017).’’ Thus, the organization seems to claim that the UABB has a large impact in several ways. Obviously, the organization sells their event on its website: but are the claims they make true? Does the UABB really have these great impacts? The focus of this thesis will be on the impact of the UABB in terms of industrial upgrade. Today, some transformations of factories used for the UABB are more visible than others. Besides, some even suggest that the UABB works as an ‘urban catalyst’: a vehicle for urban change (the Guardian, 2013; Szhkbiennale, 2017). To clarify, this entails that urban regeneration is accelerated because of the use of culture (García, 2004b). However, there is little information on whether the transformations, and the event itself, contributed to urban regeneration in the area. There is a knowledge gap in terms of the influence that the exhibition has had on urban regeneration in the surrounding areas. This leads to the following research question: How did the Bi-City Biennales of Urbanism and Architecture function as a ‘catalyst’ for urban regeneration in Shenzhen?

1.1 Academic relevance

The result of this thesis provides a contribution to fill a knowledge gap, next to other researches, in the literature about the effects brought about by the UABB. In general, not a lot of research is done in terms of the impact of cultural events in China on urban regeneration and what the perceptions of stakeholders are in culture-led urban regeneration in China (Jung et al., 2014, p. 29). A lot of the current literature on events pays particular attention to mega-events and sport-related events, not on smaller and non-sport-related to sport events in the Chinese context. The UABB can be seen as a platform where multiple stakeholders cooperate, therefore this thesis will take into account different points of views of stakeholders that are involved. This thesis provides more insight on how the use of a cultural event, combined with the transformation of an old factory, influences urban regeneration in a city.

1.2 Societal relevance

One of the financial supporters of the UABB is the municipal government. Thus, it is interesting to explore what the role of the government is and what the outcomes are of this investment. Insights into the relationship between UABB and urban regeneration can also be useful in determining whether it is desirable for a city to organize a culture related exhibition and whether it leads to the expected impact on urban regeneration. Additionally, Shenzhen has a lot of vacant factories and organizing an event could be interesting for other factories as well.

(8)

8

2. Context

The first chapter of this thesis willdiscuss the context of China and Shenzhen in particular. This is necessary to understand the setting in which this research takes place. Firstly, the rise of neoliberalisation and its consequences for urban planning will be discussed. Then the Chinese economic reform will be elaborated on. It becomes clear that China moved towards neoliberalism while strong state involvement remains. Thus, consequences of neoliberalism on urban development also seem to appear in China. Subsequently, urban governance in China will be addressed. Finally, land ownership in China will be discussed.

2.1 Increasing neoliberalisation

As mentioned in the introduction, there has been an increase of neoliberalisation in economic, political and social processes. Neoliberalisation can be defined as ‘’a prevailing pattern of market-oriented, market-disciplinary regulatory restructuring (Brenner et al., 2009, p.51)’’. The authors also state that neoliberalism has different spatial scales, forms and historical trajectories. Therefore, neoliberalism ‘’is not a monolithic affair that impresses itself onto local, regional, or national states, civil societies, and economies (Boudreau et al., 2009, p.28).’’ Thereby neoliberalism does not exist as a pure form, there is always a contextual embeddedness characterized by legacies of regulatory practices, political struggles, policy regimes and institutional frameworks (Brenner & Theodore, 2002). This neoliberal emergence has an impact on governance, urban development and planning practices and processes; they become more market-oriented (Tasan-Kok, 2012).

David Harvey (1989) describes several consequences of neoliberal urban development. These include a shift towards entrepreneurial forms of urban development rather than managerial forms. The role of the municipal government changes, it becomes an active negotiating party. Economic enterprise is stimulated in order to benefit the urban society. There is a trend of decentralization which implies that local governments have to rely more and more on their own revenues. Besides, urban development is increasingly achieved by public-private-partnerships. Finally, large-scale projects arise for interurban competition and place marketing (Harvey, 1989).

2.2 China’s opening up of the economy

After years of political disintegration, a civil war (1927-1949) and protracted foreign invasion, the Chinese People’s Republic was established. Mao Zedong, Communist Party Chairman, formally declared the establishment on 1 October 1949 (Cheng & Selden, 1994). The leader died in 1976. Around this time the economy functioned poorly and was close to collapse. The Communist Party of China had to come up with a solution. Deng Xiaoping took charge and started the economic reform of China in 1978. After visiting Western countries he was convinced that marketization was an option, he argued ‘’it doesn't matter whether the cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice’’, meaning that the end justifies the means. However, rather than the Russian shock therapy approach, whereby the economy opened up almost overnight, the Chinese

(9)

9

wanted a gradual, step-by-step approach. The priority became to promote economic growth. The idea was that ‘’China should take advantage of the global trend of offshore production to attract foreign investment to its capital-starved economy (Wu & Gaubatz, 2013, p. 112)’’.

What evolved was a gradual reform that started with a price reform, followed by an ownership reform, government reform and the creation of supportive systems. A famous saying by Deng Xiaoping is ‘crossing the river by touching the stones’ that represented a trial and error approach which could be continuously adjusted. The aim was creating a socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics. China had an abundance of cheap labor because of its large (rural) population. Therefore it was quite cheap to produce labor-intensive goods for export, which can be a source of foreign exchange earnings. The government was cognizant of the fact that in order to create growth, foreign technology was needed. One way of acquiring foreign technology is by foreign direct investment. Because of limited resources and the experimental approach, only some areas opened up in the beginning. The state designated several Special Economic Zones, located along the coast and near large cities. The first Special Economic Zone was Shenzhen. It was chosen because of its location next to Hong Kong, the possibility to close down the area from the rest of China (this is easier here than in the mainland) and because there was not a strong economy thus the effects of a possible failure of this new system were small. Radical reform policies were implemented in Shenzhen during 1979 and 1980. In this way, export was promoted while simultaneously foreign direct investment was attracted into labor-intensive manufacturing industries. The goal was to experiment with Western management and technology and transfer this knowledge, if successful, to the rest of China.

The economic reform brought Shenzhen and the rest of China big changes. Driven by foreign investment from mainly Hong Kong and Taiwan overseas Chinese, the export-oriented industrialization grew really fast. Shenzhen became the ‘world factory’ (Wang & Slack, 2000). From the 1990s onwards the whole country gradually adopted policies that were applied in Special Economic Zones (Wu & Gaubatz, 2013). Nowadays, China is not only exporting but is moving towards consumer and knowledge-based economies . Nowadays Shenzhen is no longer the ‘factory of the world’. A lot of the factories are now vacant and a lot of the labor-intensive production moved to inland China or abroad. One of the consequences is that old factories become vacant in Shenzhen (Lam & Ho Man Legg, 2016). The country prospered and has become an interesting market for foreign services, products and firms (Wu & Gaubatz, 2013).

2.3 Neoliberal China?

In a context of increasing competition between nations and cities, the ‘inevitability’ of market reorientation and globalization, China started to open up its economy during the late 1970s. China was late with its industrialization and the state legitimized its involvement by claiming that it had to enhance China’s competitiveness. Strong state intervention and marketization were well combined. Today, China is one of the key players in the global economy. The state had to find a space for accumulation and focused on the promotion of economic growth rather than the

(10)

10

class struggle. ‘’The market then replaced the state and is becoming the dominant and prevailing mechanism for resource allocation. Indeed, neoliberalisation in the Chinese context means more radical marketization. But the process of marketization has not led to the waning of state power (Wu, 2008, p. 1095).’’ The marketization in China could be described as state-led marketization. Thus, the marketization that is initiated by the Chinese Communist Party.

David Harvey (2007) argues that China is moving towards neoliberalism. China adapted a more market-oriented approach since its opening reform. However, Harvey argues that China is a ‘strange case’ because neoliberalism is interwoven with authoritarian centralized control, while commonly neoliberalism is characterized by the proposal that ‘’human well-being can best be advanced by the maximization of entrepreneurial freedoms within an institutional framework characterized by private property rights, individual liberty, unencumbered markets, and free trade (Harvey, 2007, p. 22).’’ The state needs to provide a framework that makes this possible. Therefore, it seems that China does not conform to Harvey’s conception of neoliberalism. Ong (2007) suggests that neoliberalism should be understood as a technology of governing ‘free subjects’. In this case, control by the state can be a part of such governance technology. Considering the strong presence of the State in China, it is arguable that these ‘free subjects’ are not so free in China (Ma, 2002). Wu (2008) disagrees with Harvey’s claim that China is a ‘strange case’. In his article Wu argues that the Chinese case demonstrates that under certain conditions neoliberalisation may have to strengthen control instead of reducing it. Every country has a different route towards establishing a market-oriented society. Wu says that the Chinese case presents that neoliberalisation is the path to establish a market society, a direction towards a greater market-reorientation worldwide. Different countries take different routes to get there. ‘’I see China’s neoliberalisation as great transformation, seen in the history of the West (Polanyi, 1944), but deepened through neoliberalisation projects (Wu, 2008, p. 1093).’’

There is a variation of transitional economies, so there could also be a range of transition theories. Yeung debates that in social sciences it must be prevented to adopt a dogmatic worldview, in this case ‘Eurocentrism’ and a ‘geographic bias’ towards the non-Western world. Scholars should be open to other alternatives that do not fit the paradigms in the Western world. ‘’If a form of capitalism could be developed in China, it would most likely be a path-dependent variety with a strong ingredient of the state, quite different from other varieties of capitalism that Hodgson (1996) has identified (Ma, 2002, p. 1548)’’

To conclude, despite different views on the form of neoliberalisation, it is clear that China adopted a more market-oriented approach and is moving towards a form of neoliberalism since 1978, while simultaneously strong involvement by the State remains.

2.4 Urban governance in China

‘’Urban governance refers to how government (local, regional and national) and stakeholders decide how to plan, finance and manage urban areas (GSDRC, 2017).’’

(11)

11

The Chinese Communist Party remains powerful in China despite increasing marketization and globalization. The political system in China is still centralized, therefore the central government, provincial and local governments continue to have direct fiscal, administrative and political relationships. The scope and function of the central state altered. Decentralization took place of fiscal and administrative powers, and nowadays municipal governments increasingly become similar to local developmental states: economic growth seems to be more important than ideological pursuits. This rescaling shifted decision-making powers and decentralization of fiscal resources to enterprises and localities (He & Wu, 2009). ‘’Local governments have more autonomy in designing place-based policies, more power in seeking new sources of revenue, and more responsibilities in providing public services (Wu & Gaubatz, 2013, p. 260).’’ Especially city leaders have a lot of power to develop the city, which clarifies the large differences between different approaches of cities throughout China. A unique form of urbanization in China is the possibility for city leaders to change administrative boundaries, by reclassifying counties and their populations, as a part of the city. Local governments ‘’make urban investment decisions, frequently in conjunction with local state-owned enterprises and now increasingly with private sector entities as well (McKinsey Global Institute, 2009).’’ Now, state intervention appears in a different form at lower spatial scales, in contrast with state socialism, when local administrative units had to implement centrally designed plans. However, the administrative hierarchy that was present under state socialism remains roughly the same in terms of accountability and official appointments. Hence, decentralization did not occur on the political front. ‘’Local politicians and cadres remain accountable to their supervisors (Wu & Gaubatz, 2013, p. 260)’’.

China’s administrative hierarchy can be roughly divided in five main levels, see figure 1. At the top is the central government located in China’s capital Beijing. Thereafter come the provinces, autonomous regions, two special administrative regions and provincial-level cities, these are municipalities (Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Chongqing) with the same status as provinces. The prefecture, county and township and town level are all considered local. Especially at the local level, the hierarchy is very complex. It is possible that counties and townships may be enfolded within cities. A prefecture-level city is an administrative unit consisting of an urban core surrounded by less-urbanized or rural areas. It can be seen as a Chinese ‘’metropolitan area’’. Higher ranked cities in the hierarchy often have more benefits in terms of more autonomy in decision making, more access to transport infrastructure and more public finance resources. Counties and townships are separated from urban administration and belong to rural administration. Most rural administrative staff doesn’t receive the same benefits, as for example pension, as the staff in urban administration. The latter belong to the state nomenclature system, also known as the civil service. About 12,000 counties are under the jurisdiction of approximately 280 prefecture-level cities. To conclude, how a city is ranked in the administrative hierarchy still affects its economic and political relations with other cities or places. Since the reform a lot of administrative boundaries have been reshaped in order to shift power from rural to urban areas (Wu & Gaubatz, 2013).

(12)

12

Basically, the central government is still critical on policies regarding economic openness. Meanwhile, local governments devise and implement strategic local objectives. Local autonomy is increasing and they are engaging in the global market and associated economic growth. For example cities have more power to acquire agricultural land, control land transfer and lease and to approve of foreign investment projects. There is strong guidance and leadership from local governments. The imprints of this tendency are mostly visible in the process of economic planning and urban development. Local governments shape urban development. An important goal of the local government is to create a development strategy to enhance growth. In this way, they can show their successes to the central government and promote local economic development. Due to increasing competition between cities, they adopt different ways to attract Foreign Direct Investment and to cultivate technological capabilities (Wu & Gaubatz, 2013). Within the context of Shenzhen, Lei (2016) argues that a ‘’much more sustainable way of transforming existing built-up area (compared to the tabula rasa approach), is to adapt and reshape urban forms for new social relations, with participation and collaboration among stakeholders (Lei, 2016, p. 138)’’. The stakeholders are the public and private parties with

Figure 1: China’s administrative / spatial system Source: Ma (2005)

(13)

13

power, but also the third sector that is important for social construction and also the migrant workers who have a vulnerable position but whose demands need to be heard. This process would lead to the creation of a more livable, inclusive and vital neighborhood and urban design could serve as a tool for negotiation and communication. However, the arguments that Lei makes are perhaps not realistic in the Chinese context. Considering the marginal influence that the migrants have had on their neighborhood in Chinese cities so far (INTI, 2016). Nonetheless, Lei argues that the incentive for stakeholders lie in the multi-dimensional values that are created in the urban regeneration process (Lei, 2016).

2.5 Land ownership in China

The economic reform in 1978 not only induced an economic shift away from the socialist pattern, it also caused a shift in spatial planning. An urban transformation has taken place that included urban migration, suburbanization, changes in the administrative and spatial systems of cities, changes in the urban land-use that caused spatial reorganization, an increase in housing development and a more polycentric urban form. Once again, state involvement in these developments remains very strong (Ma, 2002). In order to get a better understanding of the complexity of the economic and urban transformation, a political economy perspective can be useful. As Ma 2002 argues ‘’in this regard, the continuously powerful and multiple roles of the Party-state as the ultimate decision maker, regulator, and participant in the urban economy should be emphasized, despite globalization and decentralization of administrative and fiscal powers from the central to local levels (Ma, 2002, p. 1545).’’ China’s urban development after the reform is quite unique compared to other former socialist countries. Ma (2002) prefers the concept of ‘transformation’ over the concept of ‘transition’. This last concept indicates a certain standardized process of change towards a certain target. However, this has not been the case in China since the country adapted a gradual and experimental approach with the aim of incorporating market forces while maintaining state control. Ma argues that ‘transformation’ is well-suited because it indicates a process of change that has an unpredictable outcome. China is not moving towards a Western capitalist system of production and Western political structures (Ma, 2002). Thus, the role of the Party-State in the urban transformation is omnipresent. A distinction can be made between the central and local states; they have different priorities, concerns and intentions. Lin (2000) describes the relationship between the central and local government as ‘’a mixture of conflict and collaboration (Lin, 2000, p. 467)’’.

Market forces have become increasingly important as drivers of urban processes since the economic reform, especially in land and housing development. Under state socialism (1949-1979) state ownership of land was very important for China’s command economy. Most of the urban land belonged to the state. Municipal governments were given the responsibility by the state to own and allocate the land. Central ministries also owned land through their enterprises or associated institutions. Most of the rural and suburban land was collectively owned by residents of the communes. Therefore there was a mixture of state-owned urban designed land and collectively owned rural land in the urban edges within an administrative boundary of a city. The

(14)

14

role of the local government was critical in terms of the acquisition of land for urban development. In order to convert farmland, for example, the local state reclaimed the land and changed the designation from rural to urban. The local government also had to take care of the displacement of the local farmers. The commune did not have authority to sell-out or transfer the land; however they could benefit and use the land. The state always remained owner of the land. After the reform in 1978, the rights of agricultural land were given to individual households in the form of contracts (Wu & Gaubatz, 2013).

Before the reform in cities, land use and urban development decisions were made by the City Planning Bureau, Construction Commission, and Land Administration Bureau. Every construction plan had to be approved by the Planning Bureau. There was no economizing on land, thus the land use in cities remained unchanged over time. Industrial growth was more important than social welfare and industrial areas got prime locations in the city. Next to these work units (danwei), a lot of housing was built since they provided housing for their employees. For urban residents, housing was seen as a form of social welfare (Wu & Gaubatz, 2013).

Today, China still hasn’t privatized urban land. During the 1980s the user rights of the land were marketized. However, the state remains owner of the land; it adopted a leasehold system for urban land instead of overall privatization. This is a remarkable difference with other countries that witnessed a transition towards a more open economy. The marketization of land use rights had consequences on the urban development in China. ‘’The consequences range from municipal governments securing rents from land leases and development projects, government agencies increasing involvement in land development, to urban expansion encroaching into agricultural land (Wu & Gaubatz, 2013, p. 200).’’ Municipal governments have become more dependent on revenues from this land (Wu & Gaubatz, 2013).

Shenzhen provides a rather unique case because the city grew very fast. Before the economic reform Shenzhen existed of a lot of different rural villages. In these villages the land was owned by the commune or some families. When the city started to grow, these rural villages slowly turned into so-called ‘urban villages’. Thus, nowadays these former rural areas are not owned by the state but are still controlled by urban villagers, unless they negotiated with the government and return the land. This makes land ownership quite complicated in Shenzhen and the government does not always have the control over the land (Lam & Ho Man Legg, 2016). Shenzhen is increasingly facing land constraints, the land area of Shenzhen is about one-eighth of that of Beijing. Thus, the city implements rigid land policies to restrict land use for low-value-adding manufacturing and non-high-tech companies. Thus, many factories moved out of Shenzhen. Additionally, the city grew mostly horizontally instead of vertically which took up a lot of space (McKinsey Global Institute, 2009, p. 262).

To summarize, during the 1980s the user rights of the land were marketized. However, the state remains owner of the land. The marketization of land use rights had consequences, such as governments getting involved with land development, on the urban development in China.

(15)

15

Rescaling of decision-making powers and decentralization of fiscal resources took place from the central State to enterprises and localities (He and Wu, 2009; Oi, 1995).

2.6 Municipal administration: Shenzhen

Shenzhen is a sub-provincial city, this is similar to a prefecture-level city, but it has a special status that makes the city independent of its provincial government, in this case Guangdong Province. Shenzhen has direct jurisdiction over six districts, see figure 2; Nanshan, Futian, Luohu, Yantian, Bao’an and Longgang and four new areas; Guangming, Longhue, Dapeng and Pingshan. In 2010 the Government expanded the Special Economic Zone to the whole city (szgov, 2017). The Special Economic zone was developed to experiment with market capitalism, thus these special measures apply to whole Shenzhen now.

Figure 2: Administrative districts in Shenzhen Source: Bishenzhen (2017)

(16)

16

3. Theoretical framework

This chapter provides an overview of the available literature concerned with the topic of this thesis. Set against the backdrop of increasing competition between cities, mega-events and culture-led urban development are used for promotion and to attract investments. The existing literature on the impacts of events is extensive and focuses particularly on mega-events. These studies will be discussed, as well as ‘culture-led urban development’. This concept is relevant because the UABB can be seen as an example of how culture is used to stimulate urban development. This theoretical framework is used to conduct research on the Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism and Architecture.

3.1 The use of mega-events for urban development

Throughout the years, China hosted a range of large and smaller events, such as the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008, the World Expo in Shanghai in 2010 and the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing in 2014, the Beijing International Art Biennale in 2003 and the Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism and Architecture of Shenzhen and Hong Kong, initiated in 2005. It is remarkable that all these events have taken place in a short period of time, namely since the 2000s. The events can be seen as a product from the shift towards a more market-oriented approach by the government of China. Over the past two decades, set at the backdrop of competitiveness of cities to attract capital, many cities start to compete in the cultural front (Zhong, 2016). Thus, cities adapted the strategy of using (sport)events, creativity, culture or art to establish their position. Cities have to compete in the globalizing economy. This trend has also been discussed by Eizenberg and Cohen (2015) and Nallathiga (2011). Nallathiga states: ‘’cities are increasingly marketing themselves as better places for investment inflows by showcasing their strengths to the global investors, who are more mobile now with the flexibility that has come in production and services (Nallathiga, 2011, p.25).’’ However, there are some debates about the extent of this competition. Nallathiga argues ‘’the competition has shifted from that between the nations to the cities and city-regions to some extent (Nallathiga, 2011, p. 26)’’.

Eizenberg and Cohen also have another remark, namely that there has been an emerging interest in the role of creativity, culture and arts in producing urban spaces. These means have been important for urban policies since the 1970s, when they had to stimulate the urban economy during the industrial restructuring in cities in the West. However, more recently they have become ‘’key components in urban planning, policy and practice (Eizenberg & Cohen, 2015, p. 54)’’. Due to decentralization local governments try to find ways to promote their cities. This promotion is done by festivities and entertainment (Eizenberg & Cohen, 2015). Events can also be seen as a part of this promotion strategy. Qu and Spaans describe mega-events like the World Expo or Olympics as ’’short-term and high-profile international events which have a long-term impact on host cities (Qu & Spaans, 2009, p. 1291).’’ Mega-event are basically used as a strategy to enhance urban development. Thus, it can be seen as a tool of urban governance. Since these large events come with huge investments in venues, accommodation and infrastructure, they

(17)

17

have a large economic, social and environmental impact on the city. Therefore, these events have become an important part of the long-term perspective of strategic spatial planning in cities. The Olympic Games, for example, can be used as a flagship to attract investments, stimulate fast development and to promote the image of a city by place marketing. Considering global economic competition and the fact that local governments receive less financial support from the government, hosting a mega-event can be a way of stimulating local development (Qu & Spaans, 2009). Deng (2013) adds that mega-events are not only used as place branding but also as a mechanism to speed-up the process of urban renewal. This approach gained popularity after successful urban renewals like the Olympics in Barcelona in 1992. However, in other cases like the Olympic Games in Moscow or Athens this success was not present, which raised questions about the success of this formula.

Deng (2013) discusses that organizers of mega-events are unaware that ‘’for an mega-event flagship to play a catalytic role in the bigger renewal process, a spectacular shell can be a bonus, but a properly sized and configured layout is a prerequisite (Deng, 2013, p. 108)’’. He explains that initiators seem to focus on architecture, which often results in issues of underuse of the venue after the event. Thus, if there is no attention to this, it could lead to negative consequences such as extra costs for regeneration, over-capacity, functional obsolescence and maintenance difficulties (Deng, 2013). Silvestre (2008) discusses positive and negative effects of mega-events. Positive characteristics of hosting an mega-event are ‘fast-track’ the urban regeneration agenda and to attract international capital. The benefits can be divided into three main groups; global exposition, urban transformation and economic dividends. ‘’The preparation phase during the years running up to a mega-event deals with great levels of planning complexity that are met with equally intense impacts on the host community (Silvestre, 2008, p. 1).’’ However, there are also social impacts caused by hosting a mega-event. The following negative social impacts are related to hosting a mega-event:

 Openness, accountancy and community participation: ‘’the rationale that explains the mega-event strategy became the result of a convergence of elite interests ‘sold’ to the local government. Its coherence with public objectives and the influence of other hidden agendas dictate the participatory level in planning the bid (Silvestre, 2008, p. 10)’’.

 Land, housing and accommodation: interventions in the urban landscape in the form of venues and related infrastructure usually involve direct – the clearance of designated areas and subsequent removal of buildings – and indirect consequences – gentrification and community disruption (Silvestre, 2008, p. 12).

 Employment, training and business development: it is difficult to estimate the economic benefits, however often these are used to legitimize an event. Often the jobs that are created by mega-events are temporary or are part-time and low-paying (Silvestre, 2008).

 Recreation, leisure and accessibility: New and renovated facilities and public spaces are the most visible legacies left by a mega-event. Often claimed as a social benefit for community

(18)

18

use, these venues can turn into highly specialized sports facilities and unlikely to be used by the wider community. Some permanent facilities might even have to be torn down after the event when their low demand and costly maintenance become apparent. Public areas can be revitalized and returned to the community (Essex & Chalkley, 1999).

 Transport and urban fabric: The transportation and mobility of the expected high volume of visitors is a key topic for planning mega-events. Investment in roads and public transport are often the largest part of the event budget. Improved and expanded underground lines, new buses, roads and the new traffic engineering linked to the renovation and construction of roads have a great distributional effect (Silvestre, 2008).

 Human Rights and Civil Liberties: The Olympic Games have also witnessed some violent episodes involving the suppression of local manifestation and the violation of human rights. In 2003 during the Pan American Games in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, another popular protest was violently repressed. Protests were actively repressed during the event in order to keep a positive national image (Silvestre, 2008).

 Taxes and social budget: As pointed out before, mega-events are a costly enterprise requiring funding from various levels of governments and often through partnerships with the private sector. The accomplishment of works in time legitimates constant revisions of the budget and it is not unusual for initial projections to double or triplicate, often impacting on other budgets. It is not uncommon for governments to redistribute budgets and affect those destined to the social welfare. Grandiose projects, like the ones associated with the building of stadiums, may become a drain of public resources if its use after the event is not properly planned (Silvestre, 2008).

During the 1990s the books S,M,L,LX and Great Leap Forward, published by architecture office OMA, described urbanization issues of Shenzhen and the Pearl River Delta. These issues became the focus of new research and discussions. One topic of this discussion was the development strategy of large-scale infrastructure and government investment in large-scale events. An example of a large-scale event in Shenzhen was the Summer Universiade in 2011, an Olympics for international students. The Shenzhen government spend about 13.8 billion RMB for the construction and renovation of more than 50 stadiums. Besides, over 150 km of new subway was constructed to connect the new towns with the center of Shenzhen. However, the government has a lot of problems with the post-event re-use of the stadiums and attracting residents in the new areas (Lam & Ho Man Legg, 2016).

On a smaller scale the ‘European Capital of Culture’ provides a good example of a smaller scale cultural event that has an influence on a city. Glasgow was designated as the ‘Cultural Capital of Europe’ in 1990 because of its promised commercial sponsorship and their claim to use the event for urban regeneration. The event is often seen as successful, considering its new image. However, Gomez (1999) debates that there is no evidence for this assumption. According to Bianchini (1999) the events are part of the ‘age of city marketing’, that lasts from the 1980s until

(19)

19

now. It marks a transition from socio-political concerns of the 1970s towards urban regeneration policies and economic development. ‘’The extent to which urban redevelopment and city marketing objectives have replaced purely cultural ones in cultural policy is illustrated by the objectives of recent hosts of the ECC event. For example, the Glasgow event was judged an economic success, producing a net economic benefit to the city of between 40 and 47 million euros in 1990, mainly as a result of tourist expenditure (Wilson & Richards, 2004, p. 1937).’’ There were also concerns with the event. An example was the discussion during a meeting at the Annual Conference of the Institute of British Geographers. A session called ‘selling places: the city as cultural capital, past and present’ was organized. The result of the meeting was the conclusion that the event provided ‘’an arena of concern where a “contextual” sensitivity to a range of insights -academic and practical; contemporary and historical; economic, social, political and cultural- seemed peculiarly appropriate (Philo, 1990, p. 332).’’ Public and private parties are marketing culture and the image of cities to attract capital in numerous ways (Philo, 1990).

Another example is the ‘European Capital of Culture’ in Liverpool in 2008. The main focus of this edition was regenerating the city. Liu (2016) argues that there is no guarantee for long-term benefits. The event was part of a regeneration process of the city. The article by Liu describes lessons that can be learned from this event. To ensure long-term economic benefits and profits from tourism cities need to:

 Look beyond the commercial event (but rather provide authentic experiences and organize innovative programmes)

 Continue to organize events in order to keep attracting visitors to the area

 Community goals need to be on the agenda of the events, the community needs to be involved in order to maximize the social impact

 Integrate the event with the overall urban development strategy

Liu argues that ‘’for cultural events or any urban development policy driven by culture, the biggest challenge lies in balancing the benefits at all levels and the generation of more sustainable impacts (Liu, 2016, p. 173).’’

3.2 Culture-led urban regeneration

‘’The fiasco of the creative city’’ was a headline in the Dutch newspaper nrc this year (Hulsman, 2017). The article discusses that Richard Florida was wrong with the predictions he made in his book: The Rise of the Creative Class. Florida described how a new ‘creative class’ emerged next to the working class and the employees in the service sector. This new creative class would increase in the beginning of the 21st century in the US which would have large consequences for Western cities. Large cities would have a glorious future if they would provide space for the rise of the creative class: they would become centres of innovation, welfare and creativity. Florida’s definition of this creative class was very broad and it included for example the ICT sector and

(20)

20

scientists. There was a lot of enthusiasm for this concept and cities in and outside of the US tried to attract creative industries. However, Florida now admits that he was too optimistic. There are cities that flourished, like New York, but a lot of other cities like Detroit are in decay. A deepened segregation, inequality and poverty occur because of the winner-takes-all mentality that applies to the ‘creative economy’. People who work in the creative sector have high incomes but people who work in more traditional sectors deteriorated the past two decades. ‘’Many cities in the neoliberal era developed themselves as patchwork cities, states Florida, patchwork cities where different classes and populations live in separate, bordered city districts that strongly differ in welfare and appearance (Hulsman, 2017, p. 1)’’. Florida’s research is mainly focused on cities in the US, but also outside the US, Florida claims that a new urban crisis presents itself. In Asia there is a large rural-urban migration going on. Often these people have a small chance to get a job and are concentrated in poor living areas. Two core features of the new urban crisis are the rising inequality and housing prices, related to rising and reviving urban centres. ‘’Gentrification and inequality are the direct outgrowths of the re-colonization of the city by the affluent and the advantaged (Florida, 2017, p. 1)’’. This trend of wanting to attract creative industries and the rural-urban migration can also be witnessed in Shenzhen.

Today, Shenzhen prefers services and high-tech businesses over factories: most of the factories in the city center have been demolished over the past decades (McKinsey Global Institute, 2009). These former industrial areas are also known as ‘brownfield’ sites. Dixon et al. define these as sites that are ‘’derelict and vacant, and may also be contaminated (Dixon, Otsuka, & Abe, 2011, p. 961)’’. The regeneration of brownfield sites are an important cornerstone of urban regeneration policy in many countries. In some countries this is linked to wider sustainable development policies which ‘’seek to achieve development that promotes economic growth, but also maintains social inclusion and minimizes environmental impact (Dixon, Otsuka, & Abe, 2011, p. 961)’’. An example of a more negative connotation with urban renewal is described by Arbaci and Tapada-Berteli. In their article (2012) they discuss the social inequalities that arose after urban renewal in Barcelona. The interventions led to gentrification in some areas that made the neighborhood too expensive for some of its inhabitants (Arbaci & Tapada-Berteli, 2012). This trend of urban regeneration takes place within the framework of a neoliberal policy agenda, which has been discussed in previous sections. Local authorities encourage investment partnerships between private and public parties. Large-scale urban regeneration projects are usually implemented to ‘upgrade, revitalize or renew’ certain areas and this kind of restructuring will attract investments to improve social conditions of a larger territory. ‘’The public sector usually embarks on large-scale projects in pursuit of economic and social restructuring via spatial intervention (Tasan-Kok, 2010, p. 126)’’. The private sector is often involved in order to stimulate capital accumulation. The term ‘urban regeneration’ stands for the process of rehabilitating existing structures, reusing urban land or the redevelopment of buildings and sites, the term is sometimes exchanged by ‘urban revitalization’ or ‘urban renewal’ (Wang et al., 2014). Postindustrial cities in Europe and North America that faced deindustrialization initiated urban regeneration to deal with the related issues. The redevelopments are supposed to stimulate

(21)

21

their economies and attract new investments. But these projects are very complex, have a high failure rate, are time consuming and have a high uncertainty rate, according to Wang et al. (2014). They involve several actions to improve the physical, economic, environmental and social conditions of cities. Thus, there are a lot of debates around urban regeneration projects. It is presumable that these assumptions also apply, perhaps to a lesser extent, to smaller urban regeneration projects. Wang et al. (2014) point out that urban regeneration projects are difficult, but meanwhile there are successful examples as well.

‘’Urban regeneration can be initiated by, and associated with, different themes like property developments, arts, culture, strategic marketing and image reconstruction, and mega events’’ (Wang et al., 2014, p. 29). The form of culture-themed regeneration projects on former industrial sites gained popularity since the mid-2000s. Often these projects were sponsored by entrepreneurial local governments and private capital (Zhong, 2016). The positive aspects of culture-led urban regeneration, mainly the stimulation of the economy and the revival of postindustrial cities, have been extensively discussed by several scholars (Garcia, 2004a; Wang et al., 2014). However, Jung et al. (2014) argue that there is a lack of discussion of the reality of culture-led urban regeneration and the interpretation of culture. They argue that successful culture-led urban regeneration can only be achieved with the cooperation and participation of various stakeholders, because stakeholder partnerships form the basis of value delivery and efficient policy outcomes. There is a lack of research in the ‘’mechanisms and perceptions of stakeholders’ collaboration in culture-led urban regeneration in Asian cities (Jung, Lee, Yap, & Ineson, 2014, p. 29)’’.

Around the 1980s cultural policy became a tool for urban physical and economic regeneration rather than a tool for social participation and community development (Garcia, 2004a). Zukin describes that there are growing contradictions between two discourses: the one of cultural empowerment that emphasizes the role of artists and ethnic diversity as catalysts for vibrant urban centers, and the discourse of ‘’new urban political economy managed by elites according to the interests of land speculators and corporate investors (Garcia, 2004a, p. 313)’’. In her book she points out the meeting of real estate markets and art (Zukin, 1982). Zukin was one of the leading people in starting the debate regarding the new forms of cultural-symbolic-economy of cities. Cities always had a cultural function, but because of the service-oriented economy, culture became the center of urban development. Thus, a shift took place from culture as heritage and art to culture as a commodity with market value, as an economic asset which is a producer of marketable city spaces (Garcia, 2004a).

Kong (2000) defines characteristics of this ‘cultural economic policy’: increasing investments in infrastructure necessary for cultural production; the revival of public spaces; a growth in public-private-partnerships to address urban issues; cultural provision and establishing flagship arts developments and high profile events 'often linked to local heritage themes, to encourage cultural tourism' (Kong, 2000, p. 387). Cultural resources have been used for different purposes throughout decades, it served for example as a means to serve social and political agendas, rather

(22)

22

than economic ones. But it also served as a tool to increase community-building (Bianchini, 1993). Garcia (2004) further discusses that the approach ‘’to culture within urban policy tends to be made in purely functional terms that priorities the question 'what can the cultural bring to the economic' rather than allowing the delivery of social and cultural developments and recognizing their intrinsic value for urban regeneration (Garcia, 2004a, p. 314)’’.

The tool of using arts activity for urban regeneration, or culture-led urban regeneration, is discussed since the 1980s. Simultaneously, city marketing and cultural tourism have become increasingly popular among city planners, cultural policy-makers and city planners. ‘’Major events are seen as effective catalysts for city regeneration processes as they are able to merge tourism strategies with urban planning and can boost the confidence of local communities (García, 2004b, p. 103).’’ However, according to Garcia (2004) arts programming doesn’t have the reputation of being a relevant contributor to the legacy and success of large-scale urban events. The author claims that there is a contradiction between the use of art for major events and the celebrated potential art can have on urban regeneration processes.

3.3 Conclusion

To summarize, mega-events can have several impacts including; global exposition, attracting international capital, speeding-up the urban regeneration agenda and social impacts. Of course, compared to a mega-event, the UABB has a much more modest scale. Therefore, it is likely that these impacts of mega-events occur in a lesser extent when it is about the impacts of the UABB. Lessons that can be learned from a smaller cultural event are to integrate the event with an overall urban development strategy, to involve the community, to keep organizing new events in the area and to look beyond the event (by providing authentic experiences).

Besides, a shift took place from ‘culture as heritage and art’ to ‘culture as a commodity with market value’, as an economic asset which makes it a producer of marketable city spaces (Garcia, 2004a). The role of creativity, culture and arts increased in producing urban spaces. ‘’These means have been integrated into the arsenal of policies by which entrepreneurial cities compete in the globalizing economy (Eizenberg & Cohen, 2015, p. 54).’’ Cultural events are focused on stimulating the physical redevelopment, generating social, cultural and economic benefits and to add animation to a city (Liu, 2016). Jung et al. 2014 argue that culture-led urban regeneration can only be done by the participation and cooperation of several stakeholders, ‘’because stakeholder partnerships form the basis of value delivery and efficient policy outcomes (Jung et al., 2014, p. 29).’’ Positive effects of culture-led regeneration are the revival of postindustrial cities and the stimulation of the economy.

Even though mega-events occur on a larger scale that the UABB, the role of the government in urban regeneration, the cooperation between stakeholders and the ‘elitist interests sold to the government’ may be similar to events on a smaller scale. The effects that a (mega) event could produce may rely on the roles of the stakeholders, the location, the venue and the event itself.

(23)

23

4. Research Design

4.1 Research question and case selection

The main research question of this thesis is: How did the ‘Bi-City Biennales of Urbanism and Architecture’ function as a catalyst for urban regeneration in Shenzhen?

The main research question will be answered by first discussing the following sub questions: 1.Who are the stakeholders and what were their roles in the Biennales?

2. What was the UABB strategy in terms of choosing a venue? 3. What was the aim of the UABB with the exhibition (venue)? 4. What happened after the event was held?

This main research question will be answered by comparing three different UABBs. The sub questions will be answered for each case of the UABB. These three different cases were selected for several reasons. First of all, it is interesting to compare two different areas, OCT and Shekou, in terms of regeneration and to compare what roles the stakeholders had in these editions. Secondly, there is a difference in how successful these UABBs were. It is interesting why one is considered more successful than the other. Thirdly, the stakeholders in each case are different, with perhaps different strategies, that may have contributed to different outcomes. Thus, this thesis conducts a comparative case study.

The first case is the UABB of 2005 which was held in OCT. This was the first UABB and after this edition, other ones followed in this neighborhood. Therefore you can see the longer-term impact here, which is considered to be very successful. For this UABB developer OCT played an important role.

The second case is the UABB of 2013, this one is quite recent but interesting because it was located in another area than OCT, namely Shekou. Overall this is also considered to be a successful example. For this UABB the developer China Merchants played an important role. The third case is the UABB of 2015, which took place in Shekou as well. This UABB is arguably too recent to be able to assess the impact of the event. However, it provides an interesting case since one of the venues of this UABB has been demolished. There has been some critique on this UABB. Again the developer China Merchants played an important role here.

An overview of the three different cases is displayed in table 1. Researching three cases provides the opportunity to compare the cases. A downside is that it is more difficult to go in-depth. However, since the stakeholders of 2013 and 2015 are more or less the same, questions on the two UABBs could be answered in one interview. An additional reason for the choice of these UABBs is the fact that there was a contact person from the UABB of 2013 and 2015 available in Shenzhen. Considering the difficulty of getting in touch with Chinese respondents, due to the

(24)

24

language barrier and a culture barrier, this provided an opportunity to talk with important people of the UABB and get more insight.

4.2 Research concepts

Culture-led urban regeneration:

The role of creativity, culture and arts increased in the production of urban space. ‘’These means have been integrated into the arsenal of policies by which entrepreneurial cities compete in the globalizing economy (Eizenberg & Cohen, 2015, p. 54).’’ A regeneration project often involves complex relationships between the different stakeholders that are involved. Therefore interaction plays a crucial role. The goal of regeneration is to improve the physical, economic, social and environmental aspects in a city. The complexity is higher than other construction projects (Ho Yu & Kwon, 2011). The term ‘urban regeneration’ stands for the process of rehabilitating existing structures, reusing urban land or the redevelopment of buildings and sites, the term is sometimes exchanged by ‘urban revitalization’ or ‘urban renewal’ (Wang et al., 2014).

Catalyst:

There are different definitions for ‘catalyst’. According to the dictionary it is ‘’a person or thing that precipitates an event or change’ (Oxford dictionary , 2017). In the context of this thesis, it has been argued that culture or arts can be effective catalysts for urban regeneration processes. Thus, that urban regeneration is enforced because of the use of culture. (García, 2004b).

Stakeholders:

There is not a clear definition of the term stakeholder, it is used in different ways. It is hard to determine a priori if someone is a stakeholder, this depends on the situation. ‘’At any event, the notion of the “stakeholder” makes it possible to develop a theory which offer s a representation of power within a structure of governance... (Bonnafous-Boucher & Rendtorff, 2016, p. 4).’’ According to Edward Freeman, who is known for his work on stakeholder theory, a stakeholder

Year Exhibition theme Venue Exhibition period

2005 City, Open Door! OCT Contemporary Art Terminal (South area of OCT-LOFT)

December 10th 2005 – March 10th 2006

2013 Urban border Shekou Industrial Zone, Nanshan District Venue A:Value Factory (former Guangdong Float Glass Factory)

Venue B:Border Warehouse (the Old Warehouse at Shekou Ferry Terminal)

December 6th, 2013 – February 28th, 2014

2015 Re-living the city Former Dacheng Flour Factory, located in Shekou.

December 4th, 2015 – February 28th, 2016

Table 1: Overview of the cases Source: Szhkbiennale (2017)

(25)

25

is ‘’any group or individual who can effect or is affected by the achievements of the organization’s objectives (Freeman, 1984, p. 46)’’. More insight is provided by de Bruijn and ten Heuvelhof who argue that stakeholders in a network are interdependent and that ‘’none of them are able to impose their own problem definition, aims and information on others or make a unilateral decision using command and control (de Bruijn & ten Heuvelhof, 2002, p. 233)’’. Decision-making results from negotiating and consultation between stakeholders. However, China provides a different context where the role of the State is omnipresent and individuals have less rights than for example citizens in the Netherlands (Ma, 2002; Lin, 2000). Thus, the stakeholders of the UABB are, according to the literature, individuals or groups who are affected by the objectives of the UABB. In this thesis, the stakeholder analysis is limited to the developer, planning bureau, participants and the UABB organization. The present study topic is urban regeneration, following the term as described above, and focuses on the rehabilitation of buildings and sites and not an impact analysis on individuals such as the visitors or secondary organizations. Therefore within the current stakeholder analysis the visitors of the exhibition, partner organizations and citizens, living in the surrounding of the exhibition venue, will not be extensively discussed. The purpose of discussing the stakeholders is to get insight in the power relations relating to the UABB.

Success:

The UABB makes it clear that they don’t want to be just an architecture showcase, they rather focus ‘’on the macroscopic background of unprecedented rapid urbanization in China and issues of urban and urbanization (Szhkbiennale, 2017, p. 1)’’. They even claim that the exhibition already had an significant impact and will keep influencing Shenzhen. ‘’To the twin cities Shenzhen and Hong Kong, UABB is like a mineral deposit waiting for further exploration, which plays a decisive role in constructing a win-win situation for the twin cities, in industrial upgrade of the Pearl River Delta Region, in development of satellite cities and inter-cooperation between regions, and in building sustainable cities for the future world.’’ How successful the UABBs in reality are can be reviewed in different ways, for example by looking at the number of visitors or the inter-cooperation between regions. With regard to this thesis, the success in terms of industrial upgrade will be explored, more specifically the urban regeneration. Different editions of the UABB had different outcomes in terms of the legacy of the exhibition venue for example.

4.3 Method of analysis

The process of transformation and what happened after it in three different cases will be explored in order to get more insight in what determines the success of a transformation. In order to gain deeper understanding of this complex process, data is collected by doing interviews, and by written sources such as reviewing websites, articles, lectures and blogs.

The influence of the Bi-City Biennales of Urbanism and Architecture on urban regeneration in Shenzhen