Abstract
This study concerns space in the contemporary city of Beijing: how space is humanly built and transformed, classified and differentiated and most importantly how space is perceived and experienced. Specifically, the study focuses on inhabitants of traditional Chinese courtyards or ‘“Hutong’. The Chinese government is in the process of rehousing Hutong residents in new high-rise apartment developments; also the inhabitants are currently experiencing the changing living situation of having their living space developed for tourism.
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Notes
- 1.
This means lane or bystreet, with traditional courtyards flanking on both sides. This is a traditional residential form built within the Old City or Inner City in Beijing, where most of the indigenous Beijingers dwell. Most of those houses in the courtyard in Hutong are very old and shabby, now with no modern facilities like bathrooms or toilets built in. Different from the modern compound, they don’t have security doors or CCTV to ensure the residents feel safe.
- 2.
For ethical reasons, I masked the name of the street.
- 3.
One of the gates on the inner city border
- 4.
In progress http://www.religion.ucsb.edu/?page_id=701
- 5.
National Bureau of Statistics of China http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/ndsj/2005/indexch.htm
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Yang, Q. (2015). Preparing for the Fieldwork. In: Space Modernization and Social Interaction. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44349-1_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44349-1_1
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