The Capital Complex : Beijing’s New Creative Clusters
This essay begins with a brief discussion of how the idea of creative industries has provided the impetus for a new phase of cultural infrastructure construction in Beijing. I then contextualise these developments with an abridged history of the city from the time it became the imperial capital in 1...
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| Format: | Book Chapter |
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Springer
2009
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| Online Access: | http://eprints.qut.edu.au/13015/ http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/20796 |
| _version_ | 1848750409237135360 |
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| author | Keane, Michael |
| author_facet | Keane, Michael |
| author_sort | Keane, Michael |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | This essay begins with a brief discussion of how the idea of creative industries has provided the impetus for a new phase of cultural infrastructure construction in Beijing. I then contextualise these developments with an abridged history of the city from the time it became the imperial capital in 1420. A walled city of four separate enclosures during Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, by the 1950s Beijing had transformed into a sprawling city of industrial districts. The economic reform period which began in 1979 saw a transition from Maoist revolutionary class struggle to a pragmatic model of economic reconstruction and modernisation under Deng Xiaoping. An ensuing boom in development led to a surge in urban migration, putting further pressure on infrastructure. During the mid-1980s several of China’s large cities, notably Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Tianjin and Beijing began to compete with each other, attempting to lure international investment. Beijing assumed a capital complex; not only was it the centre of political power, it saw itself as the cultural centre of the new China. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T07:36:22Z |
| format | Book Chapter |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-20796 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T07:36:22Z |
| publishDate | 2009 |
| publisher | Springer |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-207962017-09-13T13:51:04Z The Capital Complex : Beijing’s New Creative Clusters Keane, Michael This essay begins with a brief discussion of how the idea of creative industries has provided the impetus for a new phase of cultural infrastructure construction in Beijing. I then contextualise these developments with an abridged history of the city from the time it became the imperial capital in 1420. A walled city of four separate enclosures during Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, by the 1950s Beijing had transformed into a sprawling city of industrial districts. The economic reform period which began in 1979 saw a transition from Maoist revolutionary class struggle to a pragmatic model of economic reconstruction and modernisation under Deng Xiaoping. An ensuing boom in development led to a surge in urban migration, putting further pressure on infrastructure. During the mid-1980s several of China’s large cities, notably Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Tianjin and Beijing began to compete with each other, attempting to lure international investment. Beijing assumed a capital complex; not only was it the centre of political power, it saw itself as the cultural centre of the new China. 2009 Book Chapter http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/20796 10.1007/978-1-4020-9949-6_6 http://eprints.qut.edu.au/13015/ Springer restricted |
| spellingShingle | Keane, Michael The Capital Complex : Beijing’s New Creative Clusters |
| title | The Capital Complex : Beijing’s New Creative Clusters |
| title_full | The Capital Complex : Beijing’s New Creative Clusters |
| title_fullStr | The Capital Complex : Beijing’s New Creative Clusters |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Capital Complex : Beijing’s New Creative Clusters |
| title_short | The Capital Complex : Beijing’s New Creative Clusters |
| title_sort | capital complex : beijing’s new creative clusters |
| url | http://eprints.qut.edu.au/13015/ http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/20796 |