Communal Entrepreneurship in Shanghai Commercial Streets: The Cases of Tianzifang and Minxinglu

This paper presents the cases of Tianzifang and Minxinglu commercial streets. In both sites, commercial development implicates two broader social processes - the global rise of gentrified neighborhoods, and rapid urban sprawl sustained by new town construction and old district revitalization. In this paper, we discuss one central motivation behind the commercial boom, communal entrepreneurship (CE hereafter), which is reflective of a historically rooted spirit of street commerce in Shanghai. Our discussion of CE is anchored in two key concepts, Jugaifei and immigrant entrepreneurialism.

The first key concept is Jugaifei, which underlies the emergence of both cases. The local government tacitly consented to and provided support for community shops, whose legal status was murky as owners used residential space for commercial purposes (known as Jugaifei in Chinese) without explicit approval from authorities.  Despite the illegality of shops and the inaction of state authorities, this peculiarly anarchist arrangement nonetheless facilitated the commercial success of local streets. Such practices of Jugaifei also received popular support, thanks to the increasing availability of consumable goods.  

Our second key concept is immigrant entrepreneurialism, which can also be found in both cases. In the case of global gentrification, as represented by Tianzifang, transnational migrants with solid knowledge of global art and business development were instrumental in the development of a creative industry. In the case of urban sprawl, as represented by Minxinglu, internal Chinese migrants from rural regions operated businesses to meet the daily needs of local residents. While the former type of commercial streets is tailored to middle-class consumption, the latter satisfies the otherwise unmet needs for consumable goods in the neighborhood.

We conclude with a discussion of CE, which is the core spirit of commercial streets in Shanghai; it enabled the intersection of residents, community, and entrepreneurs, leading to the communalization of street commerce.