streets have become an even more ideal space to set up vending stalls. While “failing” to live up to the official vision of a tidy, legible, and user-friendly quality shopping district (Hsu and Yang 2001), New Kujiang was able to regain the lively and unruly energy that had made it famous and popular among youthful consumers. It continues to serve up an “internationalized” image. But this is a different image than the one that the planners had in mind. Instead, New Kujiang provides shoppers, merchants, and vendors with an internationalized space and narratives of market success through which different visions can be articulated.
The development plan looked to European, American, and Japanese downtowns and shopping streets for inspiration. But, to many Taiwanese, a night market is the kind of pedestrian shopping area they know best, and this became New Kujiang’s reference point. Fang, a store clerk, explains that, while she does not think that New Kujiang is a night market, “Its position (
diwei
) in Kaohsiung’s tourism is similar to Liuhe Night Market and Ruifeng Night Market.” Like these popular night markets, New Kujiang is “a place you go for shopping.” She asserts that there is a difference, but exactly how New Kujiang differs she is not certain. Tian makes an easier distinction. The façade at the entrance of New Kujiang and the fact that the area has been “planned” are what make New Kujiang different. Mei-li, a female shopper, on the other hand, cites that New Kujiang sells “new things” and “expensive stuff.” These upscale commodities and entertainment features make it stand out. New Kujiang not only offers food and clothing as most night markets do, but it also has a movie theater, chain record stores, specialty shops, local as well as international designer brands, and dance studios. All these, however, only make New Kujiang a “bigger and newer night market” in the eyes of Tian’s younger sister: “The only reason that New Kujiang is not a night market is because it’s not called a night market.”
Although the general consensus among shoppers and merchants is that New Kujiang is not a night market, however, the facts that these are all “places you go for shopping” and that comparisons are constantly made between New Kujiang and night markets point to the possibility that New Kujiang could always degenerate into a night market if a careful distinction is not maintained. To differentiate New Kujiang from these other places for shopping, its newness, youthfulness, and trendiness are often emphasized. Official promotional materials constantly refer back to New Kujiang’s cosmopolitan past and fashionable present to set it apart from more traditional night markets that are known to be loud, crowded, disorderly, and, most important, provincial. Comparisons to Taipei’s youth-oriented Hsimenting are often brought up to promote New Kujiang to outsiders as a shopping area for young people. To further differentiate New Kujiang from night markets, street vending is condemned or held in a negative light by the committee and planning agencies. Street vendors are accused of offering unfair competition, posing a hygiene problem, and disrupting the clear order of the development plan. 16 Although the final plan did try to incorporate street vendors as a way of soliciting their cooperation, in its execution vendors were left out. This neglect is partly a result of the planning agencies’ negative view toward street vending and partly a result of the government’s refusal to grant funding to designs that include street vendors and their illegitimate business operations. 17 Street vending is also overlooked in official promotional materials. Thus, while street vending is very visible on the ground, it oftentimes becomes invisible on paper.
Even with the constant effort to promote a carefully composed image of New Kujiang, other stories exist to justify customary practices that do not
The development plan looked to European, American, and Japanese downtowns and shopping streets for inspiration. But, to many Taiwanese, a night market is the kind of pedestrian shopping area they know best, and this became New Kujiang’s reference point. Fang, a store clerk, explains that, while she does not think that New Kujiang is a night market, “Its position (
diwei
) in Kaohsiung’s tourism is similar to Liuhe Night Market and Ruifeng Night Market.” Like these popular night markets, New Kujiang is “a place you go for shopping.” She asserts that there is a difference, but exactly how New Kujiang differs she is not certain. Tian makes an easier distinction. The façade at the entrance of New Kujiang and the fact that the area has been “planned” are what make New Kujiang different. Mei-li, a female shopper, on the other hand, cites that New Kujiang sells “new things” and “expensive stuff.” These upscale commodities and entertainment features make it stand out. New Kujiang not only offers food and clothing as most night markets do, but it also has a movie theater, chain record stores, specialty shops, local as well as international designer brands, and dance studios. All these, however, only make New Kujiang a “bigger and newer night market” in the eyes of Tian’s younger sister: “The only reason that New Kujiang is not a night market is because it’s not called a night market.”
Although the general consensus among shoppers and merchants is that New Kujiang is not a night market, however, the facts that these are all “places you go for shopping” and that comparisons are constantly made between New Kujiang and night markets point to the possibility that New Kujiang could always degenerate into a night market if a careful distinction is not maintained. To differentiate New Kujiang from these other places for shopping, its newness, youthfulness, and trendiness are often emphasized. Official promotional materials constantly refer back to New Kujiang’s cosmopolitan past and fashionable present to set it apart from more traditional night markets that are known to be loud, crowded, disorderly, and, most important, provincial. Comparisons to Taipei’s youth-oriented Hsimenting are often brought up to promote New Kujiang to outsiders as a shopping area for young people. To further differentiate New Kujiang from night markets, street vending is condemned or held in a negative light by the committee and planning agencies. Street vendors are accused of offering unfair competition, posing a hygiene problem, and disrupting the clear order of the development plan. 16 Although the final plan did try to incorporate street vendors as a way of soliciting their cooperation, in its execution vendors were left out. This neglect is partly a result of the planning agencies’ negative view toward street vending and partly a result of the government’s refusal to grant funding to designs that include street vendors and their illegitimate business operations. 17 Street vending is also overlooked in official promotional materials. Thus, while street vending is very visible on the ground, it oftentimes becomes invisible on paper.
Even with the constant effort to promote a carefully composed image of New Kujiang, other stories exist to justify customary practices that do not
Similar Books
