Over the years interlocutors have pointed to the role of elites in the selective
utilisation of history, memory, nostalgia and heritage within modern
China; particularly, scholars have pointed to the role of Confucianism,
humiliation history and totalitarian nostalgia within these hegemonic
processes. However, with the exception of work on Shanghai, there is
a paucity of investigations on the role of local elites in the utilisation
of local historical-geographic discourses within contemporary China.
Acknowledging this lacuna in the extant literature, this chapter argues
that ‘local elites’ – defined as coalitions of local officials, developers,
commercialists and/or urban conservationists – are increasingly coming
together to utilise local histories, memory, nostalgia and heritage as a
tool of urban marketing and place-branding. To unpack this argument,
this chapter therefore explores local state coalitions dedicated to urban
development in the cities of Shanghai, Wuhan and Xi’an.