Belonging to the City: Cosmopolitanism, Urbanites and Chinese Cities

As Chinese urban centers become populated with migrants, urbanites search for new ways to distinguish their social and economic status within urban space – practices which are often linked to transnational flows of culture and commodities. This paper explores the new formulations of Chinese identity within an urban space that is specifically influenced and constructed by globalization. I argue these new cultural practices of “urban cosmopolitanism” are motivated by class anxieties of urbanites, who fear the loss of their privileged positions. With the influx of mobility and increasing presences of internal migrants within cities, urban residents are no longer the only bodies allowed access to urban space.