PhD thesis final - Royal Holloway, University of London

Chapter 3- Research contexts and methodologiesenvironment in Shanghai, including mushrooming skyscrapers of high-grade officespace, consumption landscapes and luxury housing (Chen 2009; Wu 2002), haveresulted in the development of Shanghai into a leading international city and draws inglobal capital (Gu and Tang 2002; Huang 2004). Also, Farrer (2008) points out thatnightlife spaces in Shanghai, such as bars and dance clubs, are indicators of thedevelopment of cultural infrastructure that define it as a global city with the possibilitiesfor cosmopolitan living (Farrer 2008).Apart from the global and cosmopolitan lifestyle, urban spaces and functions in theYRD area are also shaped by the presence of a great number of foreign populations andcommunities, which in turn determines people‘s grounded lifestyles. For example,located 55 kilometres away from Shanghai city centre but still within the greaterShanghai area, ‗Little Taipei‘ or Kunshan city, has been transformed from anagricultural village into an industrial city by Taiwanese investors and migrants (Chen2009). Not only is Kunshan a major destination for Taiwanese IT investment, it alsohosts more than 50,000 Taiwanese expatriates (ibid). This concentration of Taiwanesepeople has attracted more Taiwanese investment in tertiary sectors such as restaurants,retailers and real estate, which now operate in Kunshan. In this regard, Kunshan‘s urbanenvironment and functions allows for Taiwanese expatriates to experience or reproducetheir Taiwanese lifestyles more easily.Because of the presence of the largest number of Taiwanese expatriates, the boomingeconomy and the accompanying transformation of urban spaces, the YRD (especiallycities where Taiwanese people cluster, including Shanghai, Suzhou, Wuxi, Hangzhouand kunshan), was selected for my study to understand how Taiwanese expatriate skilledworkers‘ belonging is grounded experienced. These cities are of principal interest in my72