An imperfect modernity – Guangzhou’s CBD project

Modernization is a fundamental driver of Chinese governmental projects, exemplified by renewed cityscapes; however, recent modernity projects often fail to achieve stated objectives. The CBD project of Guangzhou, a typical flagship modernity project, exemplifies the contained and all-encompassing urbanism of contemporary Chinese urban planning with its exclusionary social character, distinctive features and visual signifiers. Efforts at redefining place for the modernity project increasingly encounter opposition and obstacle, as in the embedded enclave of the early reform years, Liuyun Xiaoqu. These remains of an earlier vision for modern Guangzhou are now the unintended centrepiece of the whole CBD project, increasingly difficult to dislodge. This paper examines the CBD project as an exemplar of Asian modernity to enquire how the embedded enclave of Liuyun Xiaoqu developed a symbiotic relationship with the government project. The case demonstrates the great difficulty of carrying out in toto grand modernity schemes in China, due in large measure to the power of local communities to challenge their social composition and architectural vision. The greenfield CBD development in China after 2001 becomes an increasingly standardized form of enclave even as the possibility of achieving the vision becomes increasingly difficult.