ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Environ. Sci.
Sec. Environmental Policy and Governance
This article is part of the Research TopicTerritorial Transitions to Sustainability: Ground-Breaking Strategies Across Urban, Rural, and Regional ContextsView all 3 articles
Waterscape of Belonging: Symbolic Water Infrastructure, Governance Legitimacy, and Urban Identity in Shanghai
Provisionally accepted
- Donghua University College of Humanities, Shanghai, China
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Urban expansion in rapidly developing regions increasingly relies not merely on technical infrastructure but on symbolic spatial design as a means of identity construction. This study investigates how Shanghai's regenerated waterscapes operate as symbolic infrastructures that shape public perceptions of governance and belonging. Drawing on 36 in-depth interviews and thematic analysis, the research examines citizens' interpretations of revitalized canals, eco-corridors, and digital water systems. The findings indicate that three-quarters of participants (75.0%) embed biographical memory and local belonging into regenerated waterscapes, whereas an even larger share (80.6%) interprets governance through ritualized maintenance, signage, and visible responsiveness. This study concludes that these symbolic attachments enable water infrastructure to legitimize state authority and reinforce social cohesion in contemporary China.
Keywords: Symbolic Water, water governance, Urban political ecology, Symbolic Infrastructure, Urban identity
Received: 15 Jul 2025; Accepted: 17 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Qi and Huang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yuanbo Qi, y.qi@dhu.edu.cn
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