Not long ago, I took the weekend to see the movie "Love Myth". Compared with the traditional urban narrative of pursuing "tall and tall", Shanghai in the film presents more of the modern public life. Community oil painting classes, lane cafes, street shops... The small-scale and refined reshaping and interpretation of urban open space together constitute a composite experience of sight, smell and touch, which restores the unique taste and temperament of Shencheng.
Although "Love Myth" is only a movie, the film tells us a truth: the charm of the city and the evolution of the city's image cannot only rely on money and material accumulation, but also have a wisp of fireworks that meets the daily experience of a better life.
Some time ago, a Taiwanese friend working in Beijing came to Shanghai on a business trip. During the chat, he excitedly told me that he borrowed a shared bicycle and rode along the Hengfu style area for an afternoon, where the streets and alleys were "too lifelike, very modern and 'international'".
Coincidentally, I chatted with a group of young returnees who worked and settled in Shanghai. Friends who returned from studying in the UK said that they rode along the Huangpu River from Pudong Lujiazui to Fengxian South Bridge on the weekend, and saw many people riding bicycles and even children on the way. The sight along the way reminded him of the River Thames in London.
Openness is an important feature of Shanghai's urban character. Shanghainese like to use "foreign atmosphere" to refer to the openness of the city. "Foreign atmosphere" originally described a person's style of doing things or something more fashionable and fashionable. In the "Worm Song Chronicle", it is said: "Everything is slightly ornamented, and there are few people, all of them are foreign." When people use "foreign atmosphere" to describe a city, in addition to the intuitive appearance of the city, perhaps more also describe the spiritual temperament of the city.
A few days ago, the Institute of Sociology of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences conducted a sample survey of young people who returned to Shanghai to study abroad, and found that 68% of the "returnees" said that they decided to come to work and live because of Shanghai's "internationalization/integration with the world".
How do you use a word or a sentence to describe your first impression of Shanghai? 79.5% of people believe that Shanghai is more experienced as "contemporary/futuristic", 82.9% think that Shanghai is a "planned and planned city", and 84.6% think that Shanghai is a "city with operational efficiency".
It can be seen that Shanghai's urban charm has changed from the traditional "lights and wine", the magnificent Bund buildings, and the towering skyscrapers, but instead has a feeling of the urban context, a perception of the legal environment, and a feeling of the living environment. Taken together, it is the source of Shanghai's urban soft power in the new era.
Urban soft power is closely related to urban spatial production. As the French philosopher Lefebvre put it, "spatial production" is not just a material production within space in the literal sense, but a process of production of the value and meaning of space itself. Urban space is the matrix, and urban soft power is the "invisible hand" in the process of space production. Through activity and practice, through perception and imagination, concepts, values, and remodeling identities are constructed, and social order is reproduced.
In the long run, enhancing the soft power of cities needs to be more able to evoke resonance with value symbols, memory symbols, and normative symbols.
During the Wars of Religion in Europe in the 17th century, Amsterdam in the Netherlands became an important refuge for religious heretics. This historical background of tolerance, freedom and pluralism has earned it the title of "City of Freedom" and continues to this day.
Due to the spread of immigrants in New York, different ethnic groups influence each other, and cultural habits are blended and assimilated, forming a new sense of community. Although the term "melting pot" is now less used, the normative values behind it are gradually internalized into the inner spirit of the American metropolis.
Urban soft power is not just a supporting role in polishing the city brand, but a key variable in the comprehensive strength of the city. In this sense, urban space is both strategic and political.
A young man who returned to China to study told me that his biggest experience in Shanghai was that he did not need to think about finding a relationship all day, but he could just submit his resume for interview. This is a particularly attractive place in Shanghai. Respecting the norms and abiding by the rules is itself a kind of value attraction, and the water drops are worn in the silent place.
An internet blogger living in Shanghai said: "Shanghai is three thousand worlds, Shanghai is a magic match, Shanghai Yong (embrace) has all the lifestyles you want." In the blogger's pen, Shanghai is still "a cup of unsweetened frost DaiQili", "the sun, coffee, the red men and green women and dogs and cats on the grass picnic". They become memory symbols that serve the soft power of the city, which in itself is a vivid embodiment of cultural interpretation. It is also these symbols contained in the daily life of the city that allow more citizens, tourists and business people to realize what "Shanghai" is from the visual, auditory and taste points of view.
However, even with the ability to interpret culture, it may not be enough. In the face of fierce global talent competition, it is not only necessary to make the world's talents come from near and far, but also to make outstanding talents change from "migratory birds" to "resident birds", which must rely on the power of homogenization. Only when people act spontaneously in order to maintain common ideas and goals can we truly enhance our sense of identity with the city and then integrate with it.
Therefore, another important point of urban soft power is the consensus of people on the spiritual character and cultural temperament of the city. From the perspective of the ruler, we should not only regard talent as some form of capital, but should reduce talent to individuals and formulate policies and measures from the perspective of meeting the needs of human development.
In the final analysis, the charm of Shanghai lies in the fact that there are various possibilities in the city, but people's behavior is predictable, measured and textured. In this regard, we can do more, and we should talk more about it to the outside world.
(Author Zhang Ke Unit: Institute of Sociology, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences)