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Xu Ding

This research will provide a theoretical foundation for temporary events being used in practice, and will fill thegaps where event studies lackresearch based on Asian culture.

Thesis title:Temporary Event and Old City’s Regeneration in China

Primary supervisor:Dr Kalliopi Fouseki
Secondary supervisor:Dr Michael Short
Starting date:2017
Projected completion date:2020

Historic buildings in China’s Old Cities are abandoned or renewed inisolated places awayfrom local life and urban history, mainly because modern culture, which favours a new style of living, is spreadand the local culture is devaluated. Temporary events, by definition, havea beginning and an end and are temporal phenomena.With planned events, the event programme or schedule is generally planned in detail and well publicized in advanceas an effective tool to fill the gapbetweentwo cultures and renovate the character of a place. Temporary eventshavebecome an unavoidable concept during urban regeneration in the UK and Europe since World War II. However, the question of what effectsan event has on a place where it happens has not been answered until now, and a cross-cultural comparison is required in this field. Therefore, my research aimsto explore “how does a temporary event drive a certain change in the character of urban spacesin Old Cities where they happen” .

This research will provide a theoretical foundation for temporary events being used in practice, and fill thegaps where event studies (which are mainly approached in the UK and Europe) lackresearch based on Asian culture. It also provides both theoretical and practical guidance for old cities’ regeneration in today’s China and other developing countries all over the world.