Too Rich City: A Sinofuturist Playground

Hsieh, Hsin

Dossiers, no. 3, vol. 10November 10, 2025<November 11, 2025

Too Rich City: A Sinofuturist Playground

Hsin Hsieh

The artwork Too Rich City transforms China's housing crisis into a virtual playground, where NFT properties and augmented reality offer young people alternative forms of urban belonging. Hsin Hsieh both embraces and critiques this artwork.

Photograph of visitors to Changsha Wenheyou in China, perusing food stalls.

Mediapolis Now, no. 2, vol. 8June 16, 2023<June 16, 2023

Voices Episode 3: Amy Y. Zhang, Asa Roast and Carwyn Morris on Wanghong Urbanism

Scott Rodgers

In the latest episode of our Voices podcast series, Amy Y. Zhang, Asa Roast and Carwyn Morris discuss with Scott Rodgers their recent Deep Dive essay on 'wanghong urbanism', and how this concept might help interpret the relations of social media and urban life.

Dossiers, no. 2, vol. 8June 9, 2023<June 9, 2023

A caring Beijing through public fitness equipment

Laura Vermeeren

Laura Vermeeren examines the proliferation of state-sponsored outdoor fitness areas in Beijing. Often used by retirees, these “senior playgrounds” embody both Chinese philosophies of wellbeing and neoliberal practices of self-care.

Dossiers, no. 1, vol. 8March 29, 2023<March 29, 2023

Intentional Wanghong Environments Mediating Urban Futures in Xiongan New Area

Antonie Angerer

Exploring China’s latest megacity, Xiongan New Area, Antonie Angerer shows how social media and urban-digital spectacle have become incorporated into the urban planning process.

Dossiers, no. 1, vol. 8March 28, 2023<March 29, 2023

“Influencers crush Wukang Road”: Creating Wanghong Landscapes in the Former French Concession in Shanghai

Chensi Shen

The former French Concession in Shanghai has become a key destination for tourists and social media influencers. Chensi Shen investigates the area’s cultural symbolism and its new status as an urban-digital landscape.

Deep Dives, no. 4, vol. 7November 30, 2022<January 25, 2023

Wanghong Urbanism: Towards a New Urban-Digital Spectacle

Amy Y. Zhang, Asa Roast, and Carwyn Morris

What happens when a place achieves celebrity status on social media? Amy Y. Zhang, Asa Roast and Carwyn Morris introduce the term “wanghong urbanism” to theorize the construction of urban-digital spectacle and discuss the implications of the phenomenon for cities in China and beyond.

Dossiers, no. 3, vol. 5August 24, 2020<August 27, 2020

COVID Nights

Will Straw

Will Straw analyzes nocturnal videos that reveal the scale of night-time cultures happening during the COVID-19 lockdown and the role of the pandemic in highlighting ongoing policy debates about urban lighting, urban noise, and spectacle.

Mediapolis on Coronavirus, no. 2, vol. 5June 29, 2020<July 14, 2020

China under Lockdown: Social Media and Labor Conditions during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Anan Zhou

Anan Zhou examines the use of social media and labor conditions in China during the coronavirus pandemic.

Mediapolis on Coronavirus, no. 2, vol. 5June 22, 2020<June 23, 2020

COVID-19, Labor Mobility, and Care Work in China

Yang Zhan

Yang Zhan examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on labor mobility, particularly for service workers, in China's growing economy.

Mediapolis on Coronavirus, no. 2, vol. 5June 16, 2020<June 22, 2020

The Last Chronicle: From Peking University Students to the Indigenous People of Alto Solimões

Francisco Foot Hardman

Francisco Foot Hardman documents actions of solidarity from faculty and undergraduate students at Peking University to indigenous communities in Brazil.

Deep Dives, no. 1, vol. 5March 6, 2020<March 6, 2020

Assembling the Cosmopublic: Art Intelligence and Object-Oriented Citizenship

Hai Ren

Hai Ren rethinks the creative city away from its anthropocentricism and toward a nonhuman art intelligence

Deep Dives, no. 1, vol. 5March 1, 2020<March 1, 2020

Re-functioning “Tropical Architecture”: Anti-colonial Constructions in Chinese-built Architecture in Africa, 1960s-70s

Ye Liu

The China-Africa engagement has been a heated topic of debate for the past decade, not only in academia, but also with the general public. …