媒介地理视角下商业绅士化的地方表征与空间再建构——以上海武康路为例OA

As urban spaces become increasingly mediated,the role of digital media in reshaping commercial gentrification and intensifying sociospatial inequality has emerged as a new research frontier.While existing studies have largely focused on the digital representations of gentrification,few have systematically examined the complex multidirectional interactions between digital media and gentrification.To bridge this gap,this study drew on the geographies of media and communication and conducted an in-depth case study of Shanghai's Wukang Road.This historic neighborhood has undergone a rapid commercial transformation in the digital era.Data were collected using a mixed-methods approach,including fieldwork,in-depth interviews with 26 stakeholders,and an analysis of online resources.This methodological triangulation enabled a nuanced understanding of how place representations constructed by different stakeholders,namely the state,market,and society,contributed to the reconstruction of commercial gentrification through various communication arcs.The findings revealed that local governments and state-affiliated digital media serve as primary drivers of commercial gentrification.Through urban regeneration projects and city branding campaigns,they construct authoritative representations of place that emphasize cultural heritage preservation and tourism development,while strategically minimizing discussion of displacement effects.Notably,local governments remain responsive to digital discourse,adopting adaptive urban strategies informed by online trends and public feedback,creating a process conceptualized as integrative communication arcs.Social groups,particularly potential gentrifiers,are attracted through connective communication arcs and actively produce and circulate pro-consumption representations on digital media.These users have become new drivers of gentrification,as their pursuit of aestheticized,shareable consumption experiences motivates market actors to reconstruct commercial spaces both discursively and materially.In response,investors and businesses engage in interactive communication arcs,continuously adjusting their retail landscapes and visual designs based on digital engagement metrics and trending consumption ideals.Business strategies evolve to accommodate the"check-in"culture and photographic requirements of digital platforms,with establishments frequently modifying facades,interiors,and merchandise displays to enhance their online appeal.This often involves replacing local businesses with establishments that cater to global aesthetic preferences,thereby leading to cultural displacement.Through these cyclical arcs of communication,the selective amplification of certain place representations—especially those aligned with elite consumption and state-supported tourism—accelerated the reconstruction of gentrified spaces.This process leads to tangible sociospatial outcomes,including landscape homogenization,cultural displacement,and the marginalization of low-income residents and traditional businesses.The study concludes that the dynamic interplay between digital media and commercial gentrification is structurally shaped by power-capital relations,even as it appears to be driven by participatory and decentralized communication.The Wukang Road case provides transferable insights for cities worldwide undergoing deepening mediatization and suggests that digital platforms may systematically reinforce exclusionary forms of heritage-based regeneration.