Chronicles of change and layered transformation: a contextualized and historicized approach to Antwerp and Brussels’ Chinatowns

Abstract Using a qualitatively historicized and contextualized approach to componential elements of the semiotic landscape of urban neighborhoods, this article analyzes the changes and transformations discernible over time in the outward appearance of the Chinatown area in Antwerp and Brussels. Building on Massey’s (1984) metaphor of the geological landscape and Lai’s (1988) model of the historical development of Chinatowns, we specifically examine how social, historical, economic, demographic, political and migration-related circumstances throughout several decades are both reflected in and shape the linguistic and semiotic properties of signs displayed on Chinese shops. By tracing the historical trajectories of these two urban semiotic spaces related to Chineseness, we uncover evidence of not only increasing (super)diversity and complexity, but also the gradual upward socio-economic mobility of Chinese immigrants. With our analysis of the historically shaped layeredness of these two neighborhoods’ outward appearance, we argue in favor of infusing insights from the field of urban geography – particularly Massey (1984) and Lai (1988) – in the production of sociolinguistic insights into the highly dynamic and gradual evolution of urban ethnic neighborhoods.