Authenticity Makes the City

I argue that authenticity makes the city underlying the production of space. Drawing from heritage studies, I define authenticity as a relationship among people, places, and meanings that involves aesthetic and moral judgments. I analyse how this relationship shapes landscapes through the lens of Lefebvre’s trialectics—conceived, perceived, and lived spaces. Interpretations of “the authentic” materialize in the city through both top-down and bottom-up dynamics. While powerful actors produce the conceived spaces of represented authenticity, the city’s users make these dominant landscapes authentic lived spaces through appropriations and significations. These dynamics become apparent in Thames Town, Shanghai’s British-themed village.