Agenda

Valentina Anzoise, Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Informatica e Statistica

Abstract:
More and more often, especially when facing complex phenomena, researchers adopt methodologies that combine different approaches and methods. The presentation will draw on a two-years research about the transformation induced on landscape and on imaginaries by the current patterns of urbanization in China, in particular those that are driven by the planning of massive high tech zones which have been implemented all over the country since the ‘80s. As a matter of facts, these areas have developed in unique ways in China and have exercised not only a great influence in boosting Chinese economy but have also contributed to reshape large rural areas, produce new territorial entities and introduce narratives of modernity, progress and wellbeing. Nonetheless, current research on high-tech zones has mainly focused on their physical planning and economic performances, while the impact and the consequences of such dramatic landscape transformations, as well as the perceptions different stakeholders hold about the multiple transitions they entail, seem overlooked. The presentation illustrates the research conducted within the MEDIUM project (http://mediumcities-china.org) to address these issues and explore the perception hold by different agents regarding the sustainable development of these new urban areas. Two high tech zones which have been established in two cities involved in the MEDIUM project – Hangzhou and Zhuhai – served as case studies and have been studied adopting a Grounded Theory framework. Data have been collected through several techniques and approaches (e.g. participatory workshops, photo-elicitation interviews, visual ethnography, etc.) and have been analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively (Structural Topic Modeling).

Bio Sketch:
Valentina Anzoise is Research Associate at the European Centre for Living Technology, Ca' Foscari University of Venice. Currently she is Young Researcher of the Europe-Aid project MEDIUM (mediumcities-china.org). Her major research interests concern urban/rural sustainability; knowledge society and innovation processes; qualitative and participatory methodologies. In the last years, beside the academic activity, she has supported local authorities and civil society organizations in the implementation and evaluation of projects addressing sustainability, innovation and community engagement. Since 2014 she is also President of the Visual Sociology Research Committee (RC57) of the International Sociological Association (ISA).