ABSTRACT
In this chapter I argue that theming strategies can serve as tools of heritage preservation. Themed settings not only can produce knowledge about the past by conveying histories and memories; they also become authentic through their users’ everyday habits, perceptions, and appropriations. Preservationists should take advantage of these functions and use themed settings to integrate damaged historical urban fabrics.
I reach these conclusions by discussing the case of Thames Town, the English-themed village built in Shanghai within the One City, Nine Towns Plan (2001–2005). The town is one of many transplanted cityscapes that are proliferating in China and in other fast-urbanizing regions. These themed cities provide new middle classes with ready-made places and convey prestige by evoking alien historical imaginaries. Most critics in urban studies and heritage preservation condemn theming, arguing that it produces a “fake” city. The data that I collected in Thames Town challenge this view. My fieldwork showed that residents and visitors construct a sense of place by consciously engaging with the ironies of the town’s theme. Moreover, the users of Thames Town appropriate spaces and negotiate meanings, at times contesting the overarching narratives of the village.
I conclude the chapter by linking the dynamics of Thames Town to the notion of authenticity. Scholars of tourism and heritage increasingly understand authenticity as a cultural construct that is also entangled in the materiality of the world. If people make places authentic through their corporal and emotional practices, then preservationists should not consider themed settings “fakes.”
