Market As A Space: Production Process And Construction Mechanism

In the process of globalization and the construction of Shanghai into a global city,the spatial production of Shanghai city has shown the characteristics of homogeneity,the space that accommodates the spiritual characteristics and collective memory has been increasingly squeezed and marginalized.Preservation of heterogeneous space has great significance towards the diversity of urban spatial functions and realizes the "spatial revolution".As a heterogeneous space,M market carries the collective memory of the local elderly and accommodates the social network constructed by non-local businesses,it's also subject to the planning and restriction of the power class and facing the danger of distinction.The study of its spatial production mechanism can highlight the important role of the urban subject in the process of spatial production,which is of practical significance for safeguarding the rights of citizens and realizing spatial justice.In this study,M market is regarded as a space.Data are collected through observation and semi-structured interview.With the framework of Lefebvre's space production theory;M market is divided into three dimensions--physical space,conceived space and social space,corresponding to "spatial practice"," representation of space" and "representational space".In the physical space part,author shows the morphological changes and characteristics of the market in different periods with time as the clue.In the conceived space part,author analyzes the mechanism of the planning of the market by the power class from the three perspectives of capital,power and consumption culture,and shows how the power class realizes the control of urban space and the inculcate of ideology by constructing the conceived space.In the part of social space,the production process and construction mechanism of it are presented through the demonstration of the interaction process and strategic actions of the three groups(i.e.merchants,local elderly consumers and market managers).The research mainly has the following three findings: first,as a kind of space,M market is jointly constructed by the power class and the tripartite group.The power class dominates the space production process,through shaping conceived space;it dominates the change process of the physical space and the survival of the social space.Second,Through strategic actions,the three groups give social significance to the space and shape social relations and reciprocal system,and produce a social space that resists the conceived space from bottom up,demonstrating subjectivity and initiative.Third,the market is the product of interests' reconciliation,including the interests' reconciliation between the tripartite group and the power class,as well as the interests' reconciliation within the tripartite group.Furthermore,the author discusses the urban rights of floating population and the significance of the diversity of urban spatial functions,so as to realize the return of "human value" and the meaning dimension of urban spatial production mechanism.