Is it a win-win strategy? Examining the media discourse on toponymic commodification in China

ABSTRACT

Toponymic commodification has generally been regarded as a win–win strategy by government-as-seller and corporation-as-buyer, resulting in its increasing global prevalence in recent decades. However, this paper interrogates this common sense by examining the media discourse on this commodification practice in China. 145 related newspaper articles published from 2002 to 2016 are analyzed. The results show that despite the claim that toponymic commodification is a win–win partnership for governments and corporations, most media outlets are concerned that citizens might passively assume the extra social burden and lose their right to the city, and they warn that toponymic commodification has the risk of devolving into a no-win game if citizens’ interests are not considered. Therefore, a win-win situation for both the seller and buyer should not be understood as a guaranteed outcome. This paper concludes by discussing its broader implications for understanding the limitations of neoliberal urbanism.

KEYWORDS:

• Toponymic commodification
• neoliberal urbanism
• win-win strategy
• media discourse
• China

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Reuben Rose-Redwood, Juanjuan Zhao, Xian Su, Libin Lin and the three anonymous referees for their constructive advice and guidance.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).