Hyperbuilding the civilized city: ethnicity and marginalization in Eastern Tibet

Western China and the states of Central Asia are increasingly urbanized, and governments are investing large sums in founding and expanding cities. Rapid and spectacular hyperbuilding has led to the creation of unevenly developed urban districts and new tensions between unequally positioned residents. Xining City, the capital of China’s Qinghai Province in western China, has drawn large numbers of Tibetan migrants since the “Open up the West” Campaign accelerated urban development there in the 21st century. Tibetan migrants dwelling and working in Xining must find their place within the city as municipal authorities and developers continuously remake the urban landscape both materially and discursively. The current Chinese national project that promotes the “civilized city” is closely linked to this development; it is revaluing what counts as high-quality urban places and ideal urban behavior and contributing to the creation of new centers of monetary and cultural value as “civilization” is reimagined through spectacular new urban centers. Hyperbuilding is reshaping aspiring middle-class Tibetans’ understandings of their place in Xining relative to other ethnic groups. This paper argues that urban hyperbuilding produces not only new spaces for state and market power but also puts economic and social pressure on already marginalized ethnic minorities.