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Introduction

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China: A Historical Geography of the Urban

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Abstract

In this introduction I highlight the need and value of a historical geographical understanding of China’s recent urbanization. To that end, a brief review of urban historical geographical studies on China is drawn up, which helps to disperse the seeming irrelevance of historical geography in contemporary urban development. It is further elucidated that, quite on the contrary, historical geography of the city is intentionally downplayed in the current mode of development in China. This introduction then continues to briefly introduce the chapters in this edited volume. A book like this is not meant to be a route map or operational manual, but rather a text that connects the past with the present of the Chinese city.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The ‘Pirenne Thesis’ was named after the Belgian historian Henri Pirenne (1862–1935). Pirenne offered the following explanation on the rise of cities and citizenship in Europe: ‘The burghers of the Middle Ages were thus singularly well prepared for the role which they were to play in the future two movements of ideas, the Renaissance […] and the Reformation’ (Pirenne 2014:151). The ‘Pirenne Thesis’ has been constantly revised and occasionally compared to Max Weber’s works (see Verhulst 1999; Boone 2012; Nicholas 2012; etc.).

  2. 2.

    Rhoads Murphey was probably using the term ‘bourgeoisie’ in Pirenne’s sense. Pirenne was one of the first to deconstruct ‘bourgeoisie’ and point out that this social concept has its root in the physical expansion of the city.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Chinese Historical Geography, Fudan University, Shanghai, P. R. China

    Yannan Ding

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  1. Yannan Ding
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Fudan University, Shanghai, China

    Yannan Ding

  2. University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom

    Maurizio Marinelli

  3. Fudan University, Shanghai, China

    Xiaohong Zhang

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Ding, Y. (2018). Introduction. In: Ding, Y., Marinelli, M., Zhang, X. (eds) China: A Historical Geography of the Urban. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64042-6_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64042-6_1

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-64041-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-64042-6

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