The Recasting of Place Identity in Commercial Gentrification: A Case Study of “Cultural Injection” and “Artsy Youths” in Shida Business District
Date Issued
2011
Date
2011
Author(s)
Lai, Po-Chih
Abstract
Shida business district has expanded rapidly in recent years. Different types of stores and customers continuously affect each other and result in its diversity and distinctness. For instance, the night market represents students and tourists whereas the independent shops which have established their foundation here for a long time are well-known for a high sensitivity of fashion and stand for a spirit of non-mainstream’s rebellion. There seems to be a conflict, but it brings out a new balance after a series of collisions. Lately, with the effect of rent-seeking and rent gap, the stores and consumers both have contributed to the recasting in space and identity. On the other hand, with the appearance of the organization, South-Village, the bourgeois are more easily recognized and therefore not just become the main force for place-making but make the whole process even more complex. First, this essay applys a second-hand material to see how different elements in different phases superimpose on one another and turn Shida business district into a unique mixture of literature, art and mass consumption. Second, it examines the development with the idea of gentrification and discusses the involvement of new middle class who aim to transform this business district into a place with more cultures, styles and better sense. They try to inject a new cultural life into the place where the retail clothing industry used to play the dominant role because of rent-seeking. Last, the points go back on “ people” and focus on “Artsy Youths”, a very distinctive group among the customers in this business district. With the first-hand material, the essay deals with this group’s and public’s doubts, hesitation and paradoxical identity between mainstream and non-stream, including the spacial and identity recasting produced in such a highly commercialized business district.
Subjects
gentrification
place-making
place identity
Artsy Youths
Shida business district
Type
thesis
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