Resumen de The Political Economy of UrbanRuins: Redeveloping Shanghai

Xuefei Ren

• This essay analyzes the political economy of the urban ruins captured in Greg Girard’sphoto album Phantom Shanghai. Rather than being marginal, irrelevant or merelyobjects for nostalgia, the ruins of buildings produced by real estate speculation offercrucial insights into the workings of the urban political economy and reflect wider trendsof urban governance. Examining how building ruins come about in the first place andhow they are represented in visual media can help us better understand the processes ofurbanization and place making, and the central role of destruction in contemporaryChinese urbanism. This essay illustrates this point by analyzing the economic function,political legitimation and cultural significance of demolitions and ruins in urban China