From "the Paris of the East" to "the City of Magic", Shanghai strives to lead the trend of the times and create a unique urban style

2022.12.18

Shanghai is a "readable" city of memories, and a "wandering" city of future. Wang Huimin, executive director and researcher of the Creative Industry Research Center of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, and Wang Xingquan, director and associate researcher of the Science and Technology Innovation Research Office of the Information Research Institute of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, talked about the charm and quality of Shanghai.Accelerating the development of a modern socialist international metropolis with world influence is inseparable from vigorously improving the city's soft power. Whether it is from the history and trend of the evolution of an international cultural metropolis, or from the experience and trend of Shanghai's urban development, efforts shall be made to inherit the urban culture, innovate the urban space, create emblems and symbols, and make a good start of the urban brand. The only way to enhance the urban function level and its core competitiveness is to continuously forge its soft power with cultural creativity.Building a Highland of Cultural CreativityLively Showcase-Many literary and artistic works born in the metropolis have the value of leading the trend of the times and innovation, or have their creation backgrounds and scenarios based on urban space and symbols, or present urban values and the spirit of the times, which are the direct and vivid embodiment of urban soft power.In the digital age, Shanghai attracts young talents nationwide and even worldwide with the atmosphere of innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship, creating new works and new experiences such as virtual reality, interactive entertainment, and digital cultural museums, demonstrating the creativity that keeps pace with the times.The Cornerstone of the Industry-Different from an ordinary city, an international metropolis is often a space for the production, dissemination and coordination of complicated cultural products, with large-scale input and output of cultural creativity, high production complexity, and mature industrial coordination mechanisms. In other words, most international metropolises have developed cultural and creative industries, such as visual arts, advertising media, performance, and music in New York, fashion, film, and music in Paris.Since 2011, Shanghai has merged the cultural industry and the creative industry into the cultural and creative industries, including publishing, art, industrial design, architectural design, network information, fashion creativity and other fields. Public data show that, the cultural and creative industries in Shanghai achieved an added value of RMB497.097 billion in 2019, accounting for 13.03% of its GDP. It is estimated that by 2030, the added value of the cultural and creative industries will account for about 18%, and a cultural and creative industry center with world influence will be basically completed.Creative Clusters-The film industry in Hollywood, the advertising industry in New York, the show business in the West End of London, the animation industry in Tokyo, and the haute couture industry in Paris, are all high-level nodes in the layout of the global cultural and creative industries, and also an integral part of urban brands.Based on first-mover advantages in the mobile Internet field and its vast economic hinterland, Shanghai has gathered a number of benchmarking enterprises in basic necessities of life in Caohejing, Zhangjiang, New Hongqiao and other areas, such as Meituan Dianping, Pinduoduo, Ctrip, Ele.me, Fresh Hema, Xiaohongshu, 100.me, Lilith Games, and Mihoyo, gradually developing into a cultural and creative industry cluster that showcases Shanghai's urban capacity.Establishing Cultural and Creative SitesCultural Remains-From the perspective of development experience, the inner urban space landscape of international metropolises has similar trends, whether it is residential or used as commercial facilities. A city's true quality is largely reflected in its historical remains. The protection of historical and cultural blocks and buildings serves as a red line for the development of a metropolis and an invaluable urban narrative carrier.In recent years, Shanghai has further strengthened its protection of history and culture. Wandering around the streets in Shanghai, people can clearly see the ancient water town, the "metropolis infested with foreign adventurers", the red history, the new estate for workers, and the modern architectures. More gratifyingly, many historical buildings are being transformed into the civic space, such as Sinan Mansions, which complements reading and culture together, and Blackstone Apartments, which is integrated with the surrounding architecture style.The city's historical characteristics are presented in a lively and approachable way to citizens and tourists. Shanghai's temperament showing "Shikumen in alleys and small foreign-style houses under the plane trees" is mixed in the cutting-edge modern "city in the sky", which tells the charm and quality of this city.Industrial Memories-The cultural and creative parks transformed from vacated factories, warehouses, docks, and residential buildings are historical witnesses of the city's transformation from industry to post-industry. At present, there are more than 500 cultural and creative parks in Shanghai, 149 of which are officially recognized municipal ones. Many of such parks are not only a model for realizing space renewal, but also become popular destinations for citizens to rest and tourists to visit, such as Tianzifang and Columbia Circle.Similar cultural and creative parks have sealed the memories of industrial history and industrial transformation, turning an "industrial rust belt" into a "life show belt" and a "cultural embroidery belt", demonstrating new industrial forms and lifestyles, and promoting urban soft power in a more fashionable and friendly way.Symbols Innovation-As the image and spirit of the city, urban space planning and architectural design directly demonstrate the development, style and spirit of the city. With the gradual completion of large-scale construction, the combination of commerce and aesthetics is becoming the key to the function level of space emblems, and the space itself has become a consumable cultural product. Such kind of aesthetic trend, standard and recombination similar to Disney's operation style, directly shows the urban development level, which is an integral part of the urban soft power.Since the 1990s, Shanghai has a prominent performance in the construction of cultural facilities and the renewal of commercial spaces, demonstrating the brilliance as a metropolis. In recent years, an impressive series of landscapes in the fusion of commerce and culture have continuously made their way onto the urban stage. For example, Duoyun Bookstore, Tank Shanghai, Sheshan Shimao Quarry Hotel, etc. have become unique new cultural tourism symbols.By enhancing the recognition of new landmarks, Shanghai leads the trend of the times and creates a unique urban style, and it will further lead the trend to promote its attractiveness.Refining Cultural and Creative SymbolsSome international metropolises have well-known folk nicknames, such as the Big Apple for New York, the City of Romance for Paris, and the City of Eternity for Rome.Shanghai is one of the most researched Chinese cities in overseas academic literature, and also one of the most described Chinese cities in overseas literary and artistic works. As an international metropolis with overseas recognition, coupled with the continuous accumulation of its hard power which drives the soft power and its original soft power, Shanghai will definitely step out of the set pattern of "the Paris of the East" and other titles, making the vivid image of "the City of Magic" continuously discussed and refined in the new cognitive system.In addition, its positioning and goals of becoming the global film and television creation center, the international material art trading center, the capital of the Asian show business, the capital of the global e-sports, the highland of the Internet culture industry, the highland of the creative design industry, etc., are accumulated with the urban cultural characteristics of emphasizing civilization, credit and rules, providing a stronger driving force for Shanghai to create new miracles and present a new look.In a word, to promote the development of Shanghai's soft power with cultural creativity and accelerate the construction of a modern socialist international metropolis with world influence, it is necessary to grasp key points of cultural works, innovation and creativity, historical culture, urban design, cultural background, cultural symbols, etc., which not only demonstrate Shanghai's development strength as an international metropolis, but also reflect its romantic charm, aiming to better showcase the Chinese political thinking, the Chinese spirit, and the Chinese path of development to the world.Source: Shanghai Observer