Flyovers, social constructs and uncertainty: (Un)covering the blind spots of urbanisation in Chongqing

This article conceptualises uncertainty as a generative mode of urban spatial formation that operates through ambiguity and unpredictability for both governing authorities and urban residents. Focussing on the case of riverside flyovers in Chongqing, it examines how urban transport infrastructure is a socially constructed site shaped by conflicting governance logics and complex social patterns. Since the 1990s, massive riverside flyovers have been built to overcome the narrow mountainous terrains and to improve transportation efficiency in the urban core of Chongqing. Based on empirical observations, I argue that these flyover spaces are shaped by uncertainty that is primarily produced by precarious authoritative negotiations, as well as universal tensions between capital and territorial governance logics. This reveals the unpredictable and uncertain natures existing in the ‘top-down’ conception and construction of transport spaces. This article also argues that the uncertainty in socially constructed aspects of such transport projects squeezes local lifestyles while also providing possibilities for local innovation to reshape transport and/or reaffirm residents’ imagination of urban spaces. This article embraces the uncertainty in transport infrastructure to understand a more diverse range of urbanisation imaginations.