i

Folding Beijing in Houchangcun Road, or,

the topology of power density*

Dr Yimin Zhao

Department of Urban Planning and Management

School of Public Administration and Policy

Renmin University of China

* This work was supported by Renmin University of China with Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities

(Grant No. 19XNF003).

ii

Abstract

Thispaperengageswithdiscussionsongeographiesofurbandensitybyinvestigatingthe

enduringpowerrelations thatunderlies the forminganddeformingofurbandensities in

Beijing.Articulatingatopologicalframeworkwiththeinfrastructurallivesofsocio-spatial

reorderinginHouchangcunRoad,oftenbeinglabelled“themostcongestintheuniverse,”

thispaperpresentsthewayinwhichtheauthoritarianstatemanagestosustainitswillto

powerandlegitimacyandrendersthiswillakernelofthegeographyofpowerdensitiesin

theurbanprocess.Itturnsoutthatthiscongestion-densityisinducedbythestate’sfolding

togetherofvariousdimensionsofurbanprocessandisexperiencedinaninfrastructurally

disturbedway. The topological consistency of power as such iswith broader theoretical

implications, since it reminds us the significance of political mechanisms underlying a

worldofintensiveheterogeneitiesontheonehandandthelimitofverticalityasaprincipal

metaphorintalkingabouturbandensityontheother.Furthermore,italsopavestheway

forrethinkingthereachandlimitofsocialinfrastructuresinthepoliticalmakingofurban

densities and urban lives, and in so doing conditions further conceptions of alternative

approachestourbanspaceandjustice.

Keywords:urbandensity;folding;topology;infrastructure;state;Beijing

1

FoldingBeijinginHouchangcunRoad,or,

thetopologyofpowerdensity

TheurbanprocessinBeijingisalsoaprocessofdeformation,where,ineverysingleyearin

the late2010s, dozensofmillionsof squaremetres “unauthorisedbuildings”werebeing

demolishedandtensofthousandsofmigrantworkersdrivenaway(Zhao,2017)1.Thepast

threeyearsalone,forinstance,havewitnessedanintensestate-ledcampaignofexpelling

theso-called“low-end”migrantsfrominformalsettlements(Pils,2020),aseriesofactions

intheinnercityonsealingoffstreet-frontshops,andanewwaveofrelocatingresidentsat

thecitycentretotheurbanperiphery.Thestartingpointofsuchactionsisawidely-shared

idea thatthedensityofthis22-milion-peoplecity istoohightobea“world-class”capital

city. This decade-long process of crackdowns eventually feeds into a regime of state-led

deintensificationinBeijing,whichinturnsetsupastageforfurtherinvestigationsofurban

densities/ intensities from a China perspective. Following discussions on geographies of

urbandensity(McFarlane,2016),inparticulartheconceptualisationofurbandensityas“a

politicalandlivedsetofintensiveheterogeneities”(p.631),inthispaperIstudyarelated

questionwithobservationsfromBeijing:arethereenduring(evenunchanged)relationsor

1 Two documents of Beijing Municipal Government set the agenda and pave the way for these conducts, namely, The Three-Year Action Plan for the Construction of Beijing’s Rural-Urban Continuum (Beijing Municipal Government, 2015) and Instructions on Organizing and Carrying out the Special Action of “Reconciliation, Remediation and Promotion” (2017-2020) (BMG, 2017). As direct results of the action plans, Chen Jining, the mayor of Beijing, reported that the city makes blank a total area of 68.3 million m2 land in 2018 and another 57 million m2 in 2019, all by demolishing the so-called “unauthorised buildings” (违章建筑, weizhang jianzhu) (J. Chen, 2019, 2020). Meanwhile, the population of this city is reported decreasing in the last four years in a row, from 21.73 million in 2016 to 21.54 million in 2019, whereas the population of residents with no local hukou (mostly are migrant workers) saw a rapid decline from 8.23 million in 2015 to 7.65 million in 2018 (BMBS, 2019; Du, 2020; Sun, 2019).

2

attributesthatremainthesameintheforminganddeformingofvariousurbandensities,

andhowandhowfarissuchaconsistencyrenderedpossiblespatio-politicallyintheurban

process?

Adoptinga topologicalperspective,especiallywith“folding”asakeyanalyticalconcept, I

exploreempiricallythechangingdensitiesof/aroundHouchangcunRoad,whichshowcase

thedialecticsbetweenmaterial changesandenduringpowerrelationsand informus the

wayinwhichthestate’swilltopowerandlegitimacyremainsunchanged,foldingtogether

political, ideological, material-infrastructural, and technological-economic dimensions of

urbandensitiesintheurbanprocess.Therelationshipbetweenthedensityof(state)power

andthematerial,socialandexperientialdimensionsofurbandensity,itturnsout,isbyno

means a straightforward one; instead, the articulations between these two aspects are

enabled by the “folding” process inwhich divergent density dynamics are rendered into

partandparcelofthesamepowerarrangementanditsreproduction,andthispointcould

bedepictedvividlyfromatopologicalperspective.Thetopologicalconsistencyofpoweras

such iswith broader theoreticalmeanings in and beyond China, since it reminds us the

significanceofpoliticalmechanismsunderlyingaworldofintensiveheterogeneitiesonthe

onehandandthelimitofverticalityasaprincipalmetaphorintalkingabouturbandensity

ontheother.Furthermore,italsopavesthewayforrethinkingthereachandlimitofsocial

infrastructuresinthepoliticalmakingofurbandensitiesandurbanlives,andinsodoing

conditionsfurtherconceptionsofalternativeapproachestourbanspaceandjustice.

3

Density,power,folding

Beijing’surbanformsaresubjecttoconsistenttransformations,whiletheissueofdensity

iskeptasakeymatterofconcern–withthestateplayingacriticalroleinbothprocesses.

Tocapturetheroleofthestateandthemechanismsofdensity inthesetransformations/

deformations, topologicalmethods arenot only relevantbut alsonecessary. Focusingon

various “qualitative properties of space” (Secor, 2013, p. 431) that are not affected by

topographicalorgeometricchanges(suchas thoseofurban forms), theviewof topology

foregroundsthewaysinwhichthingsareconnectedwithandrelatedtoeachother(Allen,

2011, p. 285; see also Leach, 1961) and the dialectics between changes and enduring

relations(Martin&Secor,2014,p.422).JohnAllen,forexample,adoptsthisperspectiveon

connectionsandrelatedness toexaminewhathe labels “power-topologies” (2011,2016).

ForAllen,proximityanddistancesarenolongerindicatableofthewaysinwhichpoweris

practised;instead,itispowersofreachandconnectionthatnowloomlargeinthespatial-

topologicalshiftsofthearchitectureofpower.Similarly,McFarlane(2016)approachesthe

geographiesofurbandensitybyattendingtotheriseof“heterogeneousintensities”inand

oftheurban,whereherecognisesthatdensityisrelationallymadeinanetworkedwayand

henceinducespoliticalsignificancesaccordingly.Intheirtopologicalviews,bothAllenand

McFarlanebringtotheforethesignificanceof intensity,aDeleuzianconceptthatfocuses

ontheprocessesandspacesofbecomingand“give[s]risetoextensivestructures”(Secor,

2013,p.435).Whilethisviewisextremelyhelpfulinremindingusthemeaningandreach

ofconnectionsandrelatednessinthedynamicandnetworkedmakingofdensities,itpays

relativelylessattentiontotheotheraspectofthetopologicalmethods,thatis,thedialectic

betweenchangesandenduringrelations.

4

Attheverybeginningoftopologicalthinkinginthe18thcentury,itisthisdialecticthatwas

putatthecentre.WiththefamousdiagramoftheBridgesofKonigsberg,Eulerfiguresout

somespecificattributesofshapes(suchasvertices,edges,andfaces)thatremainthesame

nomatterhowandhow far theseshapesperse aredeformed(Shields,2012,pp.43-47).

Withthischaracteristic,accordingtoShields,anotheranalyticalpotentialofthetopological

methodisthatit“allowsonetorigorouslyapproachsituationswheretheorderofthingsis

deformedbyanygivenforce”(ibid.,p.48).Thisreminderisalsohelpfulinunderstanding

thegeographiesandpoliticsofurbandensities.For,livingwithdensity/intensityinBeijing

isamultipleprocessthatinvolvessuchissuesastheurbanlogicandideologyofthestate,

contestedpowerrelations ineveryday life, representations inartsandurbansci-fictions,

andnetworkedinfrastructuresdeployedinurbangovernance.Andunderlyingallofthese

consistently changing urban forms and density discourses is the state’s enduringwill to

power and legitimacy. It is onlywith the help of topologicalmethods canwe be able to

depicttheconstantroleofthestateandthespatio-politicalprocessesthroughwhichpower

ispractisedaswellascontested.Inotherwords,in“themultiplicityofdenseinteractions”

(McFarlane, 2016, p. 639) that are subject to transformations, there are also and always

enduring(power)relationswiththecentralroleofthestatethatareworthequalattention

–thisrequiresfurtherempiricalexplorationandChina,becauseofitsauthoritarianregime

atwork,offersasuitablecase.

Hereemerge twocategories thataredifferentyet interconnectedwitheachother inone

andthesameurbanprocess:thedensityof(state)powerontheonehand,andthematerial,

5

socialandexperientialdimensionsofurbandensityontheother.Thechallengewearenow

facingis:howandhowfarcanwedistinguishthetwocategorieswhentheyaremoreoften

thannotsimultaneousandinterdependent?Inthispaper,Iwanttotacklesuchissuewith

thetheoreticalinsightof“folding”asananalyticalconcept,andwiththeempiricalfocusput

on thepolitical affordanceofmaterial infrastructures (Knox, 2017;Marres, 2012).While

thematerialpoliticsofinfrastructuresistobeexaminedindetailsinthenextsection,hereI

wanttoextendmyelaborationontheterm“folding”bydrawingonasci-fiction(Hao,2015)

andapost-structuralistphilosopher(Deleuze,1993).IntensiveurbanexperiencesinChina

are well portrayed in FoldingBeijing (Hao, 2015), a sci-fiction that won the 2016 Hugo

AwardforBestNovelette.Inthisfiction’ssetting,theurbanspace-timeofBeijinghasbeen

dividedintothreelayers,occupiedbythreeclassesrespectively,andfoldingandunfolding

inagiventurnthatprohibitsborder-crossing.Bytellingastorywhereaprecariousworker

at the third layerbreaches the law todeliver amessage in theupper layers and to earn

moneyforhisadopteddaughter’seducation,Haoaccuratelydescribesanordinarylifethat

isquite familiar toalmosteveryone inBeijingatpresent.This fiction isreal in thesense

thatasocio-spatialreorderingprocessisindeedunfoldinginthestate-leddeintensification

process inBeijing,whichsetsa limittothepotentialofsocial infrastructures(cf.Simone,

2004,2014)and requiresus to attend to themanifoldanddynamicparameters that are

politically(re-)shapingurbandensity/intensity.

Inthisstory,wecanseealsotheanalyticalpotentialoftheterm“folding.”Whilebeingused

onlyinametaphoricalwayinHao’ssci-fiction,foldingisakeywordinDeleuziantopology

(Allen,2011;Deleuze,1993).For, it iswith folds, turnsand twists thatvarious intensive

6

relationshipmanagetoestablishsocialproximitiesoverphysicaldistancesandviceversa

(Allen,2011,p.290).Topologicalconnectionsandrelatednesscanbecomesourcesofboth

thestateauthorityanddiscontentsandcontestations.InthenarrativeofFoldingBeijing,as

wellasinthegeneralprocessofstate-leddeintensification,theshadowoftheauthoritarian

regimeandthereachof its“power”loomslarge,nomatterhowurbanspace-timesperse

aremadeandremade.Facingthistopologicalconsistencyintheenduringpowerrelations,

weneedtomoveastepfurthertoexplorehowpowerispractisedspatiallyandhowfarits

consistencyissustained.Inthisvein,Ithinkfoldingisabettermetaphorthanverticalityin

depictinglocaldensitydynamicsandtheassociatedsocio-spatialeffects,wherebywecan

see clearly that this problem-space is first and foremostmoulded throughurbanpolitics

andurbanpoliticaleconomy.Here,wearealsoequippedtofurtherconceiveatopological

frameworkforunderstandingtheenduringrelationsthatshapeandreshapeurbandensity:

towardsthegeographyofpowerdensity.

HouchangcunRoad:thegeographyofpowerdensity

Intheprocessof foldingBeijing’surbanspace-time, thepreviousorderof things isbeing

deformedtomakewayforthesocio-spatialreorderingtowardsanemergingurbansociety.

Tocapturetheenduringpowerrelationsunderlyingthisprocess,apromisingdirectionis

toempiricallyidentifyacasewherethedeformationsaresignificantandhencevivid.Road

infrastructurescanbeagoodcandidatebecauseoftheiraffectiveforcesandtheassociated

“technologiesfordeliveringprogressanddevelopment”(Harvey&Knox,2012,p.521).In

thecaseofChina’sgreaturbantransformation,theinfrastructureslikeurbanroadsarealso

withpoliticalandpolitical-economicsignificancesbecausetheyoftenmarktheendofthe

7

previouslivedlandscapes(eitherruralorurban),thestartofurbanspace(re-)production,

andapre-conditionofthestate’slandbusiness(Y.Chen,2009;Zhao,2017).Byrigorously

approachingsuchsituationsofforming(newdensities)anddeforming(olddensities),we

canseemoreclearlythedialecticsbetweenchangesandenduringrelations,andinsodoing

uncoverthetopologicalpatternsofpowerdensity.Andinthissense,roadinfrastructures

embodyaspatialsettingwherethetopologiesof(state)powerandthematerialityofurban

politics/politicaleconomyarearticulatedwitheachother.ThisisakeypointIamgoingto

furtherelaboratewiththecaseofHouchangcunRoadinBeijing.

HouchangcunRoadis locatedatthenorth-westernfrontierofBeijing’sexpandingcentral

area.Inthelastfewdecades,ithadbeenservingalocalvillagenamedTangjialing,untilthe

late2000s.Atthattime,Tangjialingbecamefamousnationallyforaccommodatingtensof

thousandsofmigrantworkers,manyofwhomwerewithuniversityandevenpostgraduate

degrees.Labeling them the “ant tribes” (蚁族,yizu), theacademiaand thegeneralpublic

wereshockedby thecontrastbetween theireducationbackgroundand the“dirty,messy

anddisappointing”environmentoflivinginthevillage(Guetal.,2015;Lian,2009).Similar

tomanyotherinformalsettlementsintheglobalsouth,akeycharacteristicofTangjialing

wasitshighdensityofpopulation.Aimingto“remedy”suchasituation,BeijingMunicipal

Government(BMG)announcedalistof50“keyvillages”inJuly2009,includingTangjialing,

asprincipalareasofdecreasingtheundesireddensity,beautifyingtheurbanenvironment,

aswellasreestablishingthesocialorder(BeijingDaily,2009).

8

Figure1.LocatingHouchangcunRoad

(Source:https://ditu.amap.com;lastaccessedon20October2019)

AfterremovingTangjialingvillagecompletelyfromtheurbanisinglandscape,thisareawas

turned into a combination of 376,200 square metres of resettlement housing (only for

villagers with local Beijing hukou, excludingmore than 90% of the previous population

suchas the “ant tribes”),238,000squaremetresof land forbusinessand industrialuses

(for the village collective that is formed by villagerswith localhukou), and 2.27million

squaremetresofgreenspacethatwaslaternamed“ZhongguancunForestPark”(BMCRW,

2010;Zhang,2012).Meanwhile,thesurroundingareaofTangjialingwasincorporatedinto

“ZhongguancunNationalDemonstrationZoneofIndependentInnovation”anddesignated

forthedevelopmentofsoftwareindustries–theaboveforestparkwasaccordinglynamed.

Asacriticalstateproject,ZhongguancunSoftwareParkhasbeendevelopeddrasticallysince

theearly2010s:from2010to2018,thenumberofenterprisesitaccommodatedrosefrom

HouchangcunRoad

9

216to687–includingsuchleadingtechnologymultinationalsasBaidu,Didi,IBM(Beijing),

Lenovo,SinaandTencent(Beijing);andtheannualincomeoftheseenterpriseswitnesseda

ten-foldincreaseinthesameperiod,fromRMB24billionto250billion2(ZHSP,2019).Itis

forthisreasonthatpeopleintendtolabelthisplacethe“SiliconValleyofChina,”especially

afterthecompletionofPhaseTwoofthissoftwareparkin2015(H.Lietal.,2016;Zhou&

Mu,2018).

Witnessingthequickdecreaseofundesireddensityandthedramaticincreaseofdensities

ofgreenandhigh-tech,thisfour-kilometre-longHouchangcunRoadremainedthesamein

itsoriginalplace.ItcontinuedservingtheemergingcentreofChina’sITindustrieswithits

two-way four-lane settingafter2015,until a summer storm in thenext year rendered it

“themostcongestedintheuniverse”(Han&Xiang,2016).Hereisanexcerptfromanews

reportofthismoment/scene,whichshowsvividlytheextentofcongestioninthisroadas

wellasitsaffectiveimpactsonmanypeople:

“On20 July [2016],Beijing’s sky fell violently.As anationallywell-knowncity for

serious traffic jam, Beijing was immediately put into a more severe situation of

congestions under the influence of the storm. Nevertheless, the situation in

Houchangcun Road was still unique – compared with other parts of Beijing,

congestionsherewereinasensetremendousandmonumental,whichbroughtthis

2WorldBankofficialexchangeratefor1USdollartoChineseyuanis6.77in2010and6.616in2018(yearlyaverage).Withtheserates,theannualincomehereisUSD3.54billionin2010andUSD37.79billionin2018.(Source: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/PA.NUS.FCRF?locations=CN; last accessed on 1 December2019)

10

roadanewfame:‘themostcongestedroadintheuniverse.’Accordingtocommuters

whoworkatZhongguancunSoftwarePark,todaytheyspentonaverage70minutes

togothroughthefour-kilometre-longroad.Afteraprocessoftwosuccessivebodily

experiences–“sittingincarsandstuckintheroad”and“toodesperatetostayput

andhencegetoffcarsandwalkinthestorm”–manyofthemeventuallymanagedto

arriveatthecompanybylunchtime.”(Han&Xiang,2016)

“Themost congested”– this isa label thathasbeenattached toHouchangcunRoadever

sinceandmade itwell-knownnationally.This label showcases the riseofanunexpected

urbandensity,whichisneitherinformalnorplannedbutiswithsignificantaffectiveforces

inshapingtheprocessofsocio-spatialreordering.Therearetwokeyfactorscontributing

totheroad’scongestionanditseffects.Firstofall,thescaleofemploymentrosetogether

with thenumberandscaleofenterprises.Localplannersestimate that thereareat least

246,000ITworkersintheareacentredwiththesoftwarepark,whichrendersthisareathe

densest in terms of employment at the outskirts of central Beijing (outside the 5th Ring

Road)(H.Lietal.,2016).Second,theresidentialchoicesfortheseITworkersarelimited.

With local statistics,H.Lietal. (2016) figureout that ITworkers intend tominimise the

distanceofcommutingandconcentratetheirresidentialchoicesattwoplaces:thefirst is

rightaroundthesoftwarepark(morethan50%)andtheotherisinHuilongguan(25%),a

neighboringresidentialcommunity thatpilotedChina’saffordablehousingpolicies in the

late1990sandisnowthebiggestcommunityinAsia(verylikelyintheworldaswell)with

morethan360,000residents(T.Li&Zhao,2018;Zhuetal.,2019).

11

Betweenthetwodensepoles(oneofemploymentandtheotherresidence),Houchangcun

Roadturnsouttobethemain–andonly–passage,wherethewholespace-timeofBeijing

atpresentisfoldedinto.Intheinfrastructuralexperiencesofthisroad,whichseemtobe

congestionatfirstglancebutareinrealitytheeverydayeffectsofanunintentionaldensity

producedbytheprocessofstate-ledde-intensification,apatternoffolding–echoingHao’s

(2015)illustration–revealsitself.Inthispattern,threemomentsof(de-)intensificationare

foregrounded,namely,thedemolitionofTangjialingforloweringthedensityof(undesired)

population,thebuildingofthesuper-large-scaleresidentialcommunityfor(theunachieved

goal of)making the population density even at the urban level, and the clustering of IT

industriestoimprovethedensityoftechnologyandurbaninnovations.Threelayers,ofthe

precariousmigrantworkers, theemergingurbanmiddleclass,aswellas thehigh-skilled

andhigh-incomepeople respectively, encounterwitheachother in thedeformingof this

roadandconditionthelatter’sdestinyofbeing“themostcongestedintheuniverse.”This

congestion is induced by the state’s folding together of various dimensions of the urban

processandisexperiencedinaninfrastructuralwaybythetensofthousandsofworkers–

inITindustriesinparticular.Ithencemarksanalternativedensity(ofboththetrafficand

power) that isproduced topologicallyby the consistentpower relationswith the central

roleofthestate,whichissimultaneouslydisablingthemodern/high-techimaginationsof

theurban.

Thisalternativedensityofthe“infrastructurallives”notonlysetsalimittothestate’swill

topowerandlegitimacybutalsopavesthewayforourinvestigationsofthesocio-political

process of urban infrastructures and densities (Graham & McFarlane, 2015; McFarlane,

12

2016). It is through these ruptures and disabling effects that the political affordance of

materialinfrastructuresisvividlyputintoplay,whichinturnfacilitatesourunderstanding

ofpoliticsfromtheperspectiveofmaterialparticipation/engagement(Knox,2017;Marres,

2012). Inatopological framework,suchrupturesworkpowerfullytouncoverthefolding

natureofthestate-ledde-intensificationandsocio-spatialreordering.Here,Houchangcun

Roadanditscongestion-densitynotonlybringstogethermultipledimensionsoftheurban

experiencesbutalsogeneratesagapintheenduringpowerrelationsthatareunderlying

China’surbanprocess.Inthisdisturbingmoment,weareabletojoinEulerandfigureout

specificattributesof“shapes”(read:space-time)thatremainthesamewhentheshapesper

se arebeingdeformed.The foldingofdifferentandoftencontrasting layers/densities in

HouchangcunRoad,asdiscussedearlier,alreadyshowsvividlywhatthemanoeuvresofthe

stateare,regardingurbandensities,andhowandhowfarthemanoeuvreseventuallyfeed

upintoanironicreverse.

Fortheauthoritarianregimethathasbeensparingnoeffortinremakingtheurbanspace-

time,theforminganddeformingofvariousdensitiesarebyandlargetakenassignalsofits

omnipresentpowerandcontrol–overspaceandsocietyintoto.Thisimaginativepattern

of authoritativepowerhas far-reachingaffective forceswhen itworkswell, sincepeople

mightbeconvinced,ideologically,bytheconceivedmodernimagesoftheurban,andhence

attendmoretochangingformsandshapesofthecitythantheenduring(power)relations

thataremorefundamental.Butthiscongestedroad,however,bringsagapofenduranceto

theforeanddisplaystheactually-existinglimitoftheauthoritarianstateindiscipliningthe

urban.Hence,inthisgap,wecanseeacrisisofthestateprojectofurbanismthatperforms

13

tobehegemonic(Shin&Zhao,2018;Zhao,2017),sincerupturesassuchclearlydenounce

boththestate’swillingnessandcapacityindeliveringthatcertainvisionofa“modern”and

“inclusive”citytheyhaveclaimedtodo.

Andatthismoment,wearealsoinvitedtorecognisesomeotheraspectsofthisotherwise

invisiblepoliticsofurbansocio-spatialreordering–whicharealsoconsistent,yetsilently.

Inthistopological-politicallandscape,wecanidentifythevoices,discontentsandsufferings

ofthosemigrantworkerswhoaredrivenaway,theordinaryresidentswhoarenotallowed

to participate in (re-)making the urban, and the ITworkerswho are selected as “model

citizens”butstilltrappedincarsonadailybasisinHouchangcunRoad.Inthismomentof

congestion,disturbingandfolding,weareempoweredtofeel“theweightoftheworld”(cf.

Bourdieu,1999)asmultifoldexperiencesthatareconfiguredpoliticallyanddynamicallyby

theenduringpowerrelationsintheurbanprocess.Suchtopologicalconsistencymarksthe

core attribute of China’s urban transformation – one that “remains the same” nomatter

howtheurbanspace-timeismadeandremade.Anddensity,inthisurbanprocess,means

morethanapurelymorphologicalrepresentationofurbanchanges(intermsofverticality

ormetaphorsthelike);whatweshouldfocusonisinsteadtheunderlying/enduringpower

arrangementswherethestateplaysthecentralrole,andatopologicalperspectivecouldbe

helpfulinthisregard,asbeingevidencedinthecaseofHouchangcunRoad.

14

Figure2.Theofficialdiscourseof“de-intensification”inHouchangcunRoadatBeijingDaily

(Source:Yu&Wang,2019)

Thatsaid, thesestatemanoeuvrescontinue inde-intensifyingurbanspace-time,andnow

withthecongestion-densityatHouchangcunRoadasanewfocaltargetintheendeavours

ofbridgingthegap.Inearly2017,BMGannouncedthatthisroadwastobeexpandedfrom

fourlanestosixlanes(BeijingDaily,2017).Inmid-2018,abicycle-onlyhighway,thefirstof

itskindinBeijing,wasalsoproposedtoconnectHuilongguanandShangdi,thetwodense

poles,inordertoreducethetrafficonHouchangcunRoad(BMG,2018;T.Li&Zhao,2018).

BothprojectswerecompletedinJune2019(seeFigures2and3),whichnottacklesomuch

thecongestionissueperse,nevertheless,astheyrepresentthelatestmomentofthestate’s

interventionsininfrastructurallivestosustainthe“enduringpowerrelations”intheurban

process. Thismanoeuvre further invites us to foreground the dialectic between changes

andenduranceintopologicaldynamics.InthecaseofurbandensitiesinBeijing,torecap,

whatmattersthemostisthestate’swilltopowerandlegitimacythananyotherconcrete/

15

material/livedformofurbandensities.Atopologicalgeographyofpowerdensityemerges

here,inthisspatio-politicalprocessofurbanchange,whichinmyviewworksbothinand

beyondHouchangcunRoad.

Figure3.Thebicycle-onlyhighwaybetweenHuilongguanandShangdi

(Source:photobyauthor,25September2019)

Epilogue

Thispaperlaysitsfoundationintopologicalthinkingandtheanalyticalconceptof“folding”

– borrowed froma sci-fiction (Hao, 2015) and a post-structuralist philosopher (Deleuze,

1993)simultaneously.Articulatingsuchatopologicalframeworkwithinfrastructurallives

oftheongoingsocio-spatialreorderinginBeijing–andinHouchangcunRoadinparticular

–Ifigureoutthewayinwhichtheauthoritarianstatemanagestosustainitswilltopower

16

and legitimacy and renders thiswill a kernel of the geographyof powerdensities in the

urbanprocess.Inchangingdensitiesof/aroundHouchangcunRoadinthepreviousdecade,

threeofthemareofparticularsignificance:loweringthedensityofundesiredpopulation,

makingthepopulationdensityevenattheurbanlevel,andimprovingthedensityofgreen

andhigh-tech.Whenthesedensitydynamicsarebeingfoldedtogether,however,anewand

unexpecteddensityisgivenbirthto,whichisembodiedinthelabeloftheroadas“themost

congestedintheuniverse,”andwhichisneitherinformalnorplanned.For,thiscongestion-

density is inducedby thestate’s folding togetherofvariousdimensionsofurbanprocess

andisexperiencedinaninfrastructurallydisturbedway.Suchadisturbingmomentiswith

politicalsignificance,sinceitshowcasesthepoliticalaffordanceofmaterialinfrastructures

bybringingtotheforeagapofenduranceandrevealingthelimitoftheauthoritarianstate

indiscipliningtheurban.Inaddition,thispaperalsouncoversthepowerofthetopological

frameworkininvestigatingthedialecticsbetweenchangesandenduringpowerrelations.It

isfromthisperspectivethatweareinvitedtoexaminethecomplexarticulationsinwhich

thematerial, social and experiential dimensions of urban density are rendered into part

andparceloftheenduringpowerarrangementanditsreproduction.

Theroleofthestate(especiallythetopologicalconsistencyofitsreach)inthesocio-spatial

reorderingofChina’surbanprocessisremarkablebecauseitremindsusthesignificanceof

concretepoliticalmechanismsunderlyingaworldofintensiveheterogeneities.McFarlane

(2016)suggeststhatsuchasetofintensitiesisbetterstudiedwithanassemblageapproach

wherelivingexperiencesshouldbeforegrounded.Concurringwiththeanalyticalpowerof

thisapproach,Iwanttoaddacommentthatthedialecticsbetweenchangesandenduring

17

powerrelationsshouldbeattendedtoaswell, inwhichthestatealsoandalwaysplaysa

role.Bysituatingthestate’slogicandrationalesinthedailyandinfrastructuralliveswhere

theenduringpowerrelationsandassociatedstateeffectsareoftensignificant,wewillbe

abletorecognisethereach/limitofsocialinfrastructuresinthepoliticalmakingofurban

densitiesandaccordinglytoconceivethealternativeapproachestourbanspaceandjustice.

Andthismayinturngeneratenewarticulationpointsbetweenresearchonurbandensities

andthefruitfulstudiesonthe“everydaystate”(seeAnjaria,2011;Corbridgeetal.,2005;

Doshi,2013;Roy,2009forsomeempiricalcases),whichhopefullycouldfurtherbridgethe

gapbetweenthebroaderfieldsofurbanpoliticaleconomyontheonehandandmateriality

studiesontheother(seeSchindler,2017)–towardsabetterworldofcities.

18

References

Allen, J. (2011). Topological twists: Power’s shifting geographies. Dialogues in Human Geography, 1(3), 283-298.

Allen, J. (2016). Topologies of power: beyond territory and networks. Routledge. Anjaria, J. S. (2011). Ordinary states: Everyday corruption and the politics of space in Mumbai.

American Ethnologist, 38(1), 58-72. Beijing Daily. (2009, July 21). Beijing will conduct a concentrated remediation of 50 key

villages in the Jiehebu area [Benshi jiangdui chengxiang jiehebu 50 ge zhongdiancun jinxing jizhong zhengzhi]. Beijing Daily. http://zhengwu.beijing.gov.cn/gzdt/bmdt/t1067032.htm

Beijing Daily. (2017, April 14). Houchangcun Road - “the most congested in the universe” - will be expanded within this year [“Yuzhou zuidu” houchangcunlu niannei tuokuan]. Beijing Daily. http://www.xinhuanet.com//local/2017-04/14/c_129533224.htm

Beijing Municipal Government. (2015, 7 December). BMGGO-2015-No.54: Three-Year Action Plan for the Construction of the Jiehebu area in Beijing [Beijingshi chengxiang jiehebu jianshe sannian xingdong jihua]. General Office of Beijing Municipal Government. Retrieved 7 December 2015 from http://zjw.beijing.gov.cn/bjjs/xxgk/qtwj/gcjsltz/353450/index.shtml

BMBS. (2019, July 9). Population statistics in Beijing (1978-2018). Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 20 December 2019 from http://tjj.beijing.gov.cn/tjsj/cysj/201907/t20190709_153988.html

BMCRW. (2010, May 13). The Leading Group of Urban-Rural Integration in Beijing pays a visit to Xibeiwang Town, Haidian District [Beijingshi chengxiang jiehebu lingdao xiaozu dao haidianqu xibeiwangzhen diaoyan]. Beijing Municipal Committee of Rural Work. Retrieved 2 February 2015 from http://www.bjnw.gov.cn/jcdwxxbsk/hdqnw/201005/t20100513_248677.htm

BMG. (2017). BMG-2017-No.8: The practical instructions of BMG on organising and carrying out the special action of “Promotion through easing and remedying” (2017-2020) [Jingzhengfa 2017-8 hao: Beijingshi renmin zhengfu guanyu zuzhi kaizhan “shujie zhengzhi cu tisheng” zhuanxiang xingdong (2017-2020) de shishi yijian]. Beijing Municipal Government

BMG. (2018). BMGGO-2018-No.28: Three-Year Action Plan on Improving Public Services and Infrastructures in Huilongguan and Tiantongyuan Area (2018-2020) [Youhua tisheng Huilongguan Tiantongyuan diqu gonggong fuwu he jichu sheshi sannian xingdong jihua]. General Office of Beijing Municipal Government

Bourdieu, P. (Ed.) (1999). The weight of the world: Social suffering in contemporary society. Stanford University Press.

Chen, J. (2019, January 23). Beijing Municipal Government Work Report 2019. Beijing Municipal Government. Retrieved 20 December 2019 from http://www.beijing.gov.cn/gongkai/jihua/zfgzbg/t1581233.htm

Chen, J. (2020, January 19). Beijing Municipal Government Work Report 2020. Beijing Municipal Government. Retrieved 20 January 2020 from http://www.beijing.gov.cn/gongkai/jihua/zfgzbg/t1613862.htm

19

Chen, Y. (2009). Urban development: A political-sociological analysis of the production of space [Dushi dakaifa: Kongjian shengchande zhengzhi shehuixue]. Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House.

Corbridge, S., Williams, G., Srivastava, M., & Véron, R. (2005). Seeing the state: Governance and governmentality in India. Cambridge University Press.

Deleuze, G. (1993). The fold: Leibniz and the Baroque. University of Minnesota Press. Doshi, S. (2013). The politics of the evicted: redevelopment, subjectivity, and difference in

Mumbai's slum frontier. Antipode, 45(4), 844-865. Du, Y. (2020, January 20). Beijing’s population of residents was 21.536 million at the end of

2019, with a decrease of 6,000 from the end of the previous year [2019 nianmo beijing changzhu renkou 2153.6 wanren, bi shangnian mo jianshao 6000 ren]. China News. https://m.chinanews.com/wap/detail/zw/cj/2020/01-20/9065335.shtml

Graham, S., & McFarlane, C. (Eds.). (2015). Infrastructural lives: Urban infrastructure in context. Routledge.

Gu, C., Sheng, M., & Hu, L. (2015). Spatial characteristics and new changes of the “Ant Tribe” urban village in Beijing: Cases studies of Tangjialing and Shigezhuang. In T.-C. Wong, S. S. Han, & H. Zhang (Eds.), Population Mobility, Urban Planning and Management in China (pp. 73-93). Springer.

Han, Y., & Xiang, X. (2016, July 20). This road has made many IT tycoons in China crazy today - Why can Houchangcun Road choke the throat of China’s IT industries? [Zhetiaolu jintian rang baidu wangyi didi dou fengle, hochangcun lu pingshenme neng ezhu zhongguo hulianwang yanhou?]. Tencent Tech [Tengxun Keji]. Retrieved 19 October 2018 from https://tech.qq.com/a/20160720/037934.htm

Hao, J. (2015). Folding Beijing. Uncanny: A Magazine of Science Fiction and Fantasy, https://uncannymagazine.com/article/folding-beijing-2/.

Harvey, P., & Knox, H. (2012). The enchantments of infrastructure. Mobilities, 7(4), 521-536. Knox, H. (2017). Affective infrastructures and the political imagination. Public culture, 29(2),

363-384. Leach, E. R. (1961). Rethinking anthropology. Athlone Press. Li, H., Wang, Y., Liu, W., Chu, Q., Duan, B., Liang, J., Shi, M., Hao, X., & Wang, P. (2016,

September 6). How do IT workers survive on the “most congested road in the universe”? [Manong zai “yuzhou zuidu” de lushang ruhe haojin honghuang zhili]. Pengpai News. https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_1524262

Li, T., & Zhao, T. (2018, August 17). Beijing invests RMB 20 billion to upgrade Huilongguan and Tiantongyuan [Beijing touru jin 200 yi gaizao huilongguan tiantongyuan]. Beijing Youth Daily. http://www.xinhuanet.com/local/2018-08/17/c_1123282745.htm

Lian, S. (Ed.) (2009). Ant tribes: Records of inhabited villages of university graduates [Yizu: Daxue biyesheng jujucun shilu]. Guangxi Normal University Press.

Marres, N. (2012). Material participation: Technology, the environment and everyday publics. Palgrave Macmillan.

Martin, L., & Secor, A. J. (2014). Towards a post-mathematical topology. Progress in Human Geography, 38(3), 420-438.

McFarlane, C. (2016). The geographies of urban density: Topology, politics and the city. Progress in Human Geography, 40(5), 629-648.

Pils, E. (2020). From authoritarian development to totalist urban reordering: The Daxing forced evictions case. China Information, 34(2), 270-290.

20

Roy, A. (2009). Why India cannot plan its cities: Informality, insurgence and the idiom of urbanization. Planning theory, 8(1), 76-87.

Schindler, S. (2017). Towards a paradigm of Southern urbanism. City, 21(1), 47-64. Secor, A. (2013). 2012 Urban Geography Plenary Lecture ––– Topological City. Urban

Geography, 34(4), 430-444. Shields, R. (2012). Cultural topology: The seven bridges of Königsburg, 1736. Theory, Culture

& Society, 29(4-5), 43-57. Shin, H. B., & Zhao, Y. (2018). Urbanism as a state project: Lessons from Beijing’s Green Belt.

In M. Jayne (Ed.), Chinese Urbanism: Critical Perspectives (pp. 46-62). Routledge. Simone, A. (2004). People as infrastructure: intersecting fragments in Johannesburg. Public

culture, 16(3), 407-429. Simone, A. (2014). Jakarta, drawing the city near. University of Minnesota Press. Sun, L. (2019, December 16). Beijing Population Development Research Report (2019) is

released: the population of local residents declines for two consecutive years [Beijing renkou fazhan yanjiu baogao (2019) fabu, changzhu renkou lianxu liangnian xiajiang] Beijing Daily. http://www.beijing.gov.cn/gongkai/shuju/sjjd/t1610092.htm

Yu, L., & Wang, F. (2019, June 19). Houchangcun Road - “the most congested in the universe” - is now unobstructed [“Yuzhou zuidu” houchangcunlu tongchang le]. Beijing Daily. http://bjrb.bjd.com.cn/html/2019-06/19/content_11890307.htm

Zhang, L. (2012, March 12). The resettlement housing at Tangjialing is expected to be delivered in June [Beijing Tangjialing huiqianfang yuji liuyuefen jiaoyaoshi]. Beijing Morning Post. http://house.people.com.cn/GB/17358994.html

Zhao, Y. (2017). The hegemony of urbanisation: Questioning the production of space by the state in Beijing’s green belts, The London School of Economics and Political Science].

Zhou, H., & Mu, Y. (2018, August 18). The Janus-faced “Silicon Valley of China”: Houchang village’s fast-speed prosperity and collective anxiety [“Zhongguo guigu” AB mian: Houchangcunde gaosu fanrong yu jiti jiaolv]. Southern Weekly [Nanfang zhoumo]. http://www.infzm.com/content/138551

ZHSP. (2019, February 22). Zhongguancun Software Park: Enterprise income increased tenfold in nine years. Zhongguancun Haidian Science Park. Retrieved 20 December 2019 from http://www.bjhd.gov.cn/hdy/ywdt/201902/t20190222_4300473.htm

Zhu, S., Jin, K., Sun, J., & Yin, C. (2019, August 14). “Asia’s Largest Community” has changed dramatically in a single year, which displays vividly the “Beijing Speed” [“Yazhou zuida shequ” yinian dabianyang, shili jianzheng “Beijing sudu”]. Beijing Daily. https://new.qq.com/rain/a/20190814A0COEB