Fieldwork: E-waste

On 9th April 2010, the Urban-Media Networks team carried out the second fieldwork focusing on e-waste management in Ningbo. We visited Tianyi Digital Plaza, EGO Digital Plaza and South Gate Old Product Market.

The second-hand staffs are not equal as e-waste which actually is the next process of second-hand electronic products. Just as one staff we interviewed said, the useless parts of the second electronic products are regarded as e-waste and sold to people from Guangdong and Taizhou. What’s more, there is another channel to collect e-waste, which is from the junk men in the resident areas. If people prefer throwing the useless electronic product just for convenience instead of selling them to others, then it is necessary for people to have an awareness of categorizing rubbish, or it will not only pollute the natural environment, but also be a kind of waste of resources.

Fieldwork: Creative Industries

On 2nd April 2010, the Urban-Media Networks team carried out a fieldwork to find out more about the current situation of creative industries in Ningbo. The two destinations selected are Hefeng Originality Plaza (Ningbo Industrial Design and Creative Center) and Fortune Creation Harbor.
Hefeng Originality Plaza is one of the most important projects initiated by the government to promote creative industries in Ningbo. It has both financial assistance and policy support from Ningbo government. This plaza is not merely a creative cluster, but also includes a hotel, a shopping center, restaurants, and other entertainment facilities. The target clients of these establishments, as one of the staff in the Hefeng Originality Plaza said, are those regarded as middle-class with large amount of private property and relevant consumer habits, while the migrant workers constructing the plaza are absolutely excluded.
Fortune Creation Harbor, as a creative cluster, is not so successful just like other team members description. But it is a little unfair to say that it is a failure example of creative clusters for there are indeed some creative companies like advertising companies and art design centers; and it is also unfair to compare Fortune Creation Harbor with Hefeng Originality Plaza because the former one has already finished the construction, while the latter one is still on construction, and challenges sometimes emerge after construction, just like most problems appear after marriage. So it is a little early to praise Hefeng Originality Plaza, and to deny Fortune Creation Harbor as a creative cluster.

Literature Review on “Creative Industries or Wasteful Ones?”

It seems that creative industries are not as green as supposed. E-waste has been a shadow of the “clean” creative industries. Obviously, people who deal with e-waste, like those in Lùqiáo Qū and Gùiyǔ, are the victims in creative industries developments, sacrificing their and even future generation’s health and natural environment. People exposed to e-waste have higher risks to catch diseases of vital organs; Contaminants saturate the soil, rivers, and air, and spread to the surrounding villages. However, if there are no effective ways put forward to deal with e-waste, victims will not just limited to this specific group, but all the people in the world, as we share the same globe.

Literature Review on “Labour, Migration, Creative Industries, Risk”

This article lists three important developments in terms of migratory movement in China. As an instance raised by author, the demolition of the hutongs in Beijing, behind which creative industries are an important factor, reminds me something I forgot before. The original place Ningbo Hefeng Originality Plaza (Ningbo Industrial Design and Creative Center) located included not only a cotton mill, but also a resident area where my aunt had lived for more than ten years. The house my aunt lived with other families is a Qing dynasty two-floor architecture with delicate carving on the ridge beams. It is not the only one in this resident area. Regrettably, they were demolished in 2001. What a strong will the government has to renew urban districts!

Literature Review on “Creative Clusters: Out of Nowhere?”

One of the most impressive points in this article is the emphasis on “catch-up learning” which involves a process of “unlearning” and further exceeding of the codified knowledge with the purpose of achieving generative growth (Keane, 2008:35). Accordingly, unnecessarily duplicating the existing successful models from other cities or carrying out ‘follow-the leader’ strategies could not help to advance the competitive power of creative industries in China. For example, the success of Beijing 798 and Shanghai Binjiang Creative Park, both built based on deserted plants, has led to the phenomenon that a large number of old factories in China have been transformed into creative clusters. A typical instance is Hangzhou where at least eight creative clusters are originally old factories, like Loft 49, A8 Art Community, Tangshang 433, and 177 Creative Park. Even the names of these creative clusters are similar as Beijing 798, entitled by numbers. What’s more, there are more than one hundred old plants have been renewed as creative clusters. Although the retooling of factories as creative industries “has clear effects upon the texture of the urban landscape” (Neilson, 2008: 42), there are still some questions need to be further studied: are these factories suitable to be transformed into creative clusters? Is it the best way to build a creative cluster on the basis of a deserted plant? Is building creative clusters the best way to promote creative industries? Could a satisfying return be got from building this kind of creative clusters? Admittedly, it is necessary for us to learn from other cities’ experience at the very start, but more significantly we should identify our own advantages in the through knowledge accumulation and innovative thinking (Keane, 2008:35) instead of just copying the successful models and neglecting whether it is suitable or not.
References:
Keane, Michael (2008) ‘Creative Clusters: Out of Nowhere?’, Urban China 33: 34-35.
Neilson, Brett (2008) ‘Labour, Migration, Creative Industries, Risk’, Urban China 33: 42-43.

Fieldwork_23, April 2010, Shipping company

On 23 April, Ned, Yulin and I visited one of the world leading shipping companies* in Ningbo. The aim of the visit covers research on the routine operation of a logistics company, the software/IT devices that track employees’ KPIs/ business operation, and working conditions of local staff in local market.

Comparing with a small domestic shipping company visited by other members in our team at the same time, we observed some interesting differences. The international company has a big and nice office in a 5-star hotel and with a well organized chart on human resources. About 100 people working here in different departments with clear job descriptions while the small company with 10-20 employees that staffs always wear several hats at the same time (our team member there found a girl kept data inputting while calling a customer).

Software used in KPI tracing in the big company differs from the small one. As mentioned by our interviewee that a powerful *EDI system is extensively applied within international companies that it can automatically generate update information from different database instantly to ensure the operation go efficiently and properly. By contrast, the system was not mentioned by the small company. Instead, my colleagues there observed the individual used personal MSN as a communicator for customer service and maintaining.

Another issue we want to explore is the working conditions.  People working in the international giant seem to work in a less stressful environment for most of they show confidence in achieving targets for their performance and can finish work on time without OT. Interviewees in the small company expressed that sometimes they need to work after office hour for customer- relationship building. Other findings are the role and influence Worker’s Union in the big company. Although most people apply for Union membership as joining the company, they don’t treat union as a powerful place for right protection. Even most of they don’t know how the Union usually work. The way workers claim their rights not through any organization as Worker’s Union or Foreign Enterprises Service Company but through the communication with the immediate boss which are regarded as the direct and efficient way. The reason for this, according to the interviewee, that there is no a culture here to seek help from Worker’s Union. No feedback from the small company on this question. 

In short, although located in a local market- Ningbo, we can see the culture in the big company is oriented by host country- more European and more international in terms of management style and daily operation practice.

western/international company culture with Chinese elements in the office

 Further research

Another finding included foreign company in China is forbidden in dealing with domestic services (voyages). This will lead to a further investigation on the updated stage of Chinese commitments to WTO on controlling domestic logistics. And the logistic chain is closely linked with the value chain of international trade. Thus, further investigation should be conducted the points along the chain as from factories to logistics agencies for booking space from shipping companies, to preparing the goods , to local containers management, to deliver to the port, to container loading into the port and finally to the destination.

 

 Notes:

*As required by the interviewee, any attempt to public the details of the interview in name of the company needs to be approved by the company management. Therefore the name of the company is not specified in this post.

*EDI (Electronic Data Interchange). More details about EDI system at http://www.qdport.com/webedi/zsjs/files/edi_sxgc.htm

Literature Review_ “ICW-Immaterial Civil War” (Pasquinelli, 2007)

In the article, Pasquinelli revisits David Harvey’s work of The Art of Rent (Harvey 2001), claiming that “all the immaterial economies have a material, parallel counterpart where the big money is exchanged” (Pasquinelli 2006: 22). The mode of value generation in creative industries domain is in fact not limited to the exploitation of intellectual property, but also  a more tendentious way of parasitic exploitation  by another material objects. The discourse “collective symbolic capital” introduced by Harvey unveils the potential political economy of cultural interventions and the parasite exploiting the social creativity.

The culture context provides the marks of distinction which be exploited further by capitalists to sell material goods. The article mentions the Barcelona city as an example; Pasquinelli states that the production of culture as social capital and real estate speculation is a couple of immaterial and material compound.

To apply the concept of parasitic exploitation of symbolic capital, the mode of development of creative clusters in local Ningbo seems a contradictory and conflicted circumstance  for further investigation. An initial thought of this phenomenon is that the culture and creative economy-oriented project is possibly exploited mostly by real estate speculators and leave little space for sustainable development of culture and creative reproduction.

References:

Harvey, David (2001), ‘The Art of Rent: Globalization and the Commodification of Culture’, in Spaces of Capital: Towards a Critical Geography, New York: Routledge, 2001, pp. 394-411

Pasquinelli, Matteo (2007) ‘ICW-Immaterial Civil War, Prototypes of conflict within cognitive capitalism’, in Geert Lovink and Ned Rossiter (eds) MyCreativity Reader: Critique of Creative Industries, Amsterdam: Institute of Network Cultures, pp. 71-81.

Literature Review_’Creative Industries or Wasterful Ones’

Creative Industries are no doubt with a clean image comparing with those manufacturing counterparts with visible wastes produce. Anyhow, in the article ‘Creative industries or wasteful ones’, Maxwell and his colleagues reveal the dark side or the by-products creative industries create due to heavily relying on electronic technologies. Computers parts, TVs, mobile phones mp3s and other e-devices therefore contribute to a new even more toxic industry- an unbeknown one. The toxic process starts from the unawareness of knowledge of e-waste recycling which involves health risks for workers in the value chain and pollutions to land and water.  And the trend of e-waste from developed countries/regions to developing countries/regions calls for responsibilities both from countries and companies involved. The authors also call for users /public require the ‘clean’ industry be less ‘wasteful ‘by slowing down the business for a while in regarding the proper usage and treatment of e-waste.

It’s indeed an inspiring article which reveal not only how clean becomes wasteful but also the relationship between technology and moral issues. In addition,  consumers and civil society can use their power to claim for the right for the workers and  a less polluted environment which help to prevent the ‘wasteful ‘ industry not  go too far. In short, we are not facing the challenge of new technologies with unwelcome by-products. Instead, we need to inspect why and how we modern society use it for what purposes. Always do the right things and do things right.

Further thoughts and action plan

Our team got an initial action plan that we’re going to share this e-waste knowledge with local environmental protection NGO to see how academic resource can contribute to local communities .A further study will be conducted in the following days to explore another unbeknown wasteful aspect of the ‘clean industries’ in Ningbo-soil pollution on the demolishied factory sites where new Creative Industries and Real Estate Clusters are built.

Reference

Maxwell, Richard and Miller, Toby (2008a) ‘Creative Industries or Wasteful Ones’, Urban China 33:28-29, http://orgnets.net/urban_china/maxwell_miller

Literature Review_Zhang, Li(2008) ‘Private Homes, Distinct Lifestyles: Performing a New Middle Class’

In her article ‘Private homes, Distinct Lifestyles: Performing a New Middle Class’,  Li Zhang traces the ongoing formation of a new middle class in China that has a close relationship with the reform of privatizing housing in 1998 which differed from   the former state-subsidized public housing policy.

In a time that the real estate industry becomes the main drive for economic booming in China, her fieldworks in Kunming revealing the link between the privatization of real estate and class   forming  focus more on property acquisition and consumption practices that differentiated a ‘happening ‘ middle class. Although it’s a ‘happening ‘ class, Li Zhang observed that the forming middle class shared some cultures cultivated based in the living space( Garden area, Villa or high-end residential areas), such as being wealthy enough to afford  the houses in the same Xiaoqu(Neighborhoods), sharing similar consumption (high-end consumption labeled by specific brands) ,   enjoying same lifestyles(fashion,  kids education and housewives’ leisure-time) and with a strong sense of insecurity by the well-gated systems that both act for isolating the relationship with next-door neighbors and protecting  privacy.

 Does a culture of a class just cover the finance status and the sense of insecurity as it’s in Li Zhang’s study? My observations here in Ningbo might well support her concept of ‘happening’ in terms of forming a new class rather than the set material standard shared within the class. The findings in Ningbo high-end neighborhoods show that there is a tendency that some wealthy people who used to show off their labels of personal possessions are now showing more concerns on the design and cultures of the consumer goods(although they are still big brand and expensive).  Sales in the LV store found that some people begin ask for a nice good without an eye-catching big label.  This shift from showing off to emphasize quality of goods also leads another change-diversified in lifestyles. It’s no longer the time ‘the middle class ‘follows the same activities in their leisure-time/past-times as food massage, Facial treatment and Golf. Some begin to spend more time jogging in the shared gardens and some parents with little children’s unite together to organize for outing. 

Yet, it’s hard to come to a clear definition of what a ’middle class in China’ looks like at the stage. It’s definitely a process rather than a specific term.

Reference:Zhang, Li (2008) ‘Private Homes, Distinct Lifestyles: Performing a New Middle Class’, in Li Zhang and Aihwa Ong  (eds) Privatizing China: Socialism from Afar, Ithaca: Cornell University Press, pp.23-40

Literature Review_ “Constructing The Real (E)state of Chinese Contemporary Art: Reflections on 798, in 2004” (Berghuis, 2008)

“These days, the experimental art scene is reinventing itself as a highly profitable and marketable, commercial cultural industry.”
– Berghuis, 2008

The main argument of Berghuis to the art district like Dashanzi is that he found the most fundamental and essential development occurring here is in deed the real estate industry more than a contemporary art industries. Though, the place like Dashanzi district started as an experimental art basement of artists’ initiative, but it now ends up a trendy cultural cluster and commercial district whose biggest beneficiaries are property dealers. The loser could be the artists who contributed to the reborn of 798 art factory but eventually have to be driven off by the increasingly raised residential rent. In fact, the distinct culture context or creativity brand helps promoting the real estate speculation and generates a compound economy of creative industries and commercial industries.

Using the creative industries as overwrap, and then packaging the commercial oriented industries into creative economics, such a development mode of creative industries was copied by a lot of followers. As in Ningbo area, we’ve observed Loft8, Creation harbour and Creative 3rd plant established one and another designed in similar way. In a first sight, such creative industries may bring instant benefit as it successfully promotes the real estate speculation. However, the more in-depth and profound effect should be  questioned and highlighted: how long could this mode of “fake” creative industries further go?

Reference:

Berghuis, Thomas J(2008), ‘Constructing The Real (E)state of Chinese Contemporary Art: Reflections on 798, in 2004’ , Urban China 33 [Special Issue: ‘Creative China: Counter-Mapping Creative Industries’].

Below are some pictures took from Creative 3rd plant.

The Cluster Name: Creative 3rd plant

The location is formerly the No3. plant subordinate to Shanghai drawnwork import and export company

Building No1 is right now repacked to a hotel.

Some are lofts for design companies.

Insider there is a new-concept restaurant; about 100rmb per capital consumption.

The ceiling of restaurant keeps the original of old factory