Temporary Appropriation and Informal Public Performance Spaces: Cultural Practices and Community-Building Among Elderly Rural Migrants in Urban Jinan, China

PhD defence by Xiaohui Zhang

Assessment Committee

Associate Professor Christine Benna Skytt-Larsen, IGN, University of Copenhagen (Chairperson)
Professor Karin Grundström, Malmö University
Professor Lieven Ameel, University of Helsinki

Supervisors

Professor Henriette Steiner
Associate Professor Natalie Koerner

Department

Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management

Place

Building: Baghuset / Common Building, Room: Von Langen, Rolighedsvej 23, 1958, Frederiksberg C

Email address to gain access to the thesis: xiz@ign.ku.dk.
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Short description of the thesis

How do elderly rural migrants create a sense of belonging in a rapidly changing Chinese city? This PhD thesis follows elderly rural migrants in Jinan as they transform parks, underpasses, parking lots, and other overlooked urban spaces into informal public performance venues through Yu opera, everyday routines, and collective organisation. Based on ethnographic fieldwork, mapping, and participatory design, the study shows how temporary appropriation and shared cultural practices help sustain community, visibility, and belonging under conditions of uncertainty. It argues that these informal activities are not signs of disorder, but important forms of everyday participation in urban life.