Postwar Urban Reconstruction in China 1937 - 1958

The coronavirus pandemic has left city streets silent and passenger usage on public transport has plummeted. In the UK, the time to devise innovative strategies for managing people's access to urban public space and transport systems is now. This is so resources can be allocated effectively and people prepared through public messaging before the lockdown eases. This project will provide information on policies for managing public use of transport systems and urban spaces from China and Taiwan, and analyse the public reaction to them. In China, it will focus on the cities of Wuhan, which experienced an early initially uncontrolled outbreak and a severe lockdown, and Shanghai, where the authorities had some time to prepare. In Taiwan, it will focus on Taipei. The value of the comparison is that there are similarities in urban organization between Taiwan and China, but that the Taiwanese response has involved transparent governance and community consultation. In China, while there has been community support for many policies, there has been no public involvement in their design, and enforcement is more stringent. This project will proceed in two stages following the employment of a PhD student at Leicester as an RA. The RA is a native Chinese speaker, who will work under the PI's direction. This linguistic ability is essential to quickly engage with the complex the social media spaces in China and Taiwan. Month 1 (May): RA and PI to identify policies put in place related to access to public transport and public space in case study cities. A short report will be prepared summarizing these policies and sent to UK policy contacts. Months 2 - 7 (June - December): RA and PI to look at public response to these measures. This will use social media analysis (Weibo and Weixin in China, Facebook and Twitter in Taiwan), and more traditional print media. An initial report mapping the key trends will be followed up with a further report towards the end of the project, although if UK stakeholders request more regular updates this is possible. This will allow the research to respond flexibly to the development of the pandemic and the policy and public response to it.