The Overlooked Chinese Terrain Vague: On Culture, Urbanisation, and Resilience

Abstract

Shifting attention from the dominant Western context of 'terrain vague,' this essay explores the urban phenomenon in China. Like many Chinese cities, Chengdu has numerous spaces on its urban periphery which at first glance might resemble the empty urban wastelands associated with Solà-Morales’s idea of terrain vague. However, this phenomenon of urban wastelands is the product of very different socio-cultural, economic, and political influences to that of the Western city. As the essay will discuss, closer examination of these spaces reveals that rather than urban voids, these spaces are occupied by informal farms constructed with minimal materials and movement. These illicit actions can be c..