Unravelling the Invisible Spatial Logic: Spatial Production of the Clothing Wholesale Service Area in the Liuhua District in Guangzhou, China

This article focuses on an unplanned clothing wholesale district in Guangzhou City, China. Dramatic Chinese Economic Transition and the district’s advantageous location next to the Guangzhou Railway Station have led to its commercial success. Smaller clusters of clothing wholesale buildings, clothes processing shops, shop design companies, tag shops, mannequin shops and logistics companies constitute this district. This research aims to understand how these smaller clusters choose their locations in the district without holistic urban planning in advance. By following the Actor-Network Theory, this research regards spaces as actors among other human and non-human actors and adopts a bottom-up perspective to investigate the spatial structures of the district. Qualitative methods including observation, semi-structured interviews and mapping are used. This research has found that invisible spatial logics behind the physical structures have induced the formation of the district, businesspeoples’ location choices and their spatial appropriations. This research goes beyond the visible forms and shapes to investigate the urban dynamics and complexities. It offers new perspectives to understand the spatial structures of urban spaces from the perspectives of space end-users.